The Line of Durin
by kaotic312
Summary: Following the BOFA. Certain tombs are empty and new lives have to be forged. Kiliel. Rating changed.
1. Aftermath

**A/N: Okay, if you don't realize that I own nothing of these characters ...then that's just sad. This is a work of fanfiction. This piece takes place after the BO5A with a varient ending that is far from canon. I don't speak elvish, dwarvish, or any dialect thereof. This is written for enjoyment and fun, constructive criticism is welcome, but I have no need to hear how it's not canon. I know that part. Please, I hope you enjoy.**

**o.o.o.o**

Kili woke up in a condition he had not expected. Alive.

The first face he saw was one that was welcome in the extreme. Oin. The gray-bearded dwarf was good with the wounded. Wounded was good. Wounded wasn't dead. Dead.

Kili frowned, ignoring the pain starting to radiate in from body parts he wasn't even sure he was fully aquainted with in the first place. The image in his head was of his Uncle Thorin, wounded, heroic, dying. But the name that first passed his lips was, "Fili."

Oin didn't answer. It wasn't good that Oin wasn't answering! Kili reached up and was amazed to find that his right arm wasn't answering him. That wasn't good either. Kili's eyes widened with panic.

Someone pushed Oin's shoulder and the gray-bearded dwarf shifted to allow someone else into the line of sight. Kili's breath stilled for a moment. Tauriel.

Wonderment, amazement, and disbelief. He stared. "You, you can't be here. You are far away."

"I've heard this particular poetry before." Tauriel cut him off. "Lovely as it is, we do not have even a moment to spare. You must sleep."

Kili shook his head and then nearly gagged as pain swamped him. Groaning he dropped his head back as his vision swam alarmingly. Red. All he could see was red. Blood? No, his eyesight refocused and he realized that Tauriel's hair was blocking his view. Careful not to move his head any more than he needed, he followed the waterfall of red silken hair up to the creamy star-lit satin of her skin. Bemused he watched her bring a cup to his lips.

The young dwarf warrior started to drink, them went still. His mouth firmed. She'd said sleep. He'd heard her say, sleep. And he hadn't heard the answers he so desperately needed. "No."

The elf didn't react. Oin did. "You bloody arse of a dwarf! Drink this now, we don't have any time left! We're trying to save your foolhardy and feckless life!"

"Fili. Thorin." Kili asked, stubborn as those of his race were wont. His jaw set and his dark eyes showed the determination that he was willing to use to keep from sleeping until he had his answers.

"Your brother hovers near the shadows as you do, and you will be joining the other if you do not take this now!" Tauriel looked gentle and beautiful, and continued to look as ethereal as starlight embodied upon middleearth even as she squeezed his wounded arm and sent a pain sharp enough to make him cry out coursing through his body. Mouth open for an exclamation of pain meant an opening for the healer. Oin grabbed the cup and poured the burning liquid down his throat, then closed his mouth with his large blunt hands until Kili was forced to swallow.

Choking and gagging at the rough taste of something that burned all the way down to his belly, Kili turned his sight away from both Oin and Tauriel. His dark eyes widened with despair as he saw Dis. His mother. She was standing over a litter holding a body. A dwarven body, one with blond hair soaked in black blood. A sheet being pulled up to cover the face. A face that Kili knew only far too well.

Despair crawled over the young dwarf as he watched his mother throw back her head, wailing the song of grief too deep to hold. Balin, that venerable old dwarf, was holding Dis close even as he added his own voice to hers.

Kili fought to keep the blackness at bay, but his sight faded before his hearing. Sleep slammed into him like a dwarven hammer even as he heard more and more voices, throats thrown back as the halls of Erebor sang the songs of the fallen

o.o.o.o.

"He's given up." The words were as cool and smooth as a brook in the mountainside. "Perhaps it was not a kindness to bring him back."

Kili didn't moan, nor did he move. Words washed over him, voices came and went. Painful times came when he was shifted, rolled, tended, or wrapped with bandages. What did he care? Sometimes the words made sense, mostly they didn't. Then again, a lot of the time the words were Elvish, not a language he was very good with. So why could he understand now?

"The lad is strong, his blood his strong, he will return." Deep voice, rougher than anything the elves could produce. Dwarf. But not the right dwarf. Not his brother, not Fili. Not ever again this side of life. Only death would reunite them.

He didn't cry. Crying meant moving, and moving meant life. If he never moved again would anyone notice? Would he just slip past the shadows into the other side?

"Perhaps we should do for him what we did for the other?" Kili's mind recognized that particular elven voice. Tauriel.

The first voice spoke again. Cool, even, Elven. Male. "It would be foolish to move him. He is not well enough. The other was different, he was flailing and yelling. Pulling at his sutures and reopening fell wounds. No, what we did was to keep him from becoming worse. This one is at least still."

"Too still." Tauriel's voice lacked inflection, but even Kili could tell it was a protest.

"It might do the lad more good than harm." The dwarven voice. Bofur. Kili placed the accent and inflection at last. It was Bofur. There was even a hint of pipeweed in the room. Not lit, nothing smoking, but the scent of a lifetime lover of the pipe.

Kili's throat tightened painfully. Oin and Bofur. Two, alive. Two and a half if you counted Kili himself, he mused silently.

"If he knew his brother still breathed, it would go easier on him." The dwarf continued.

Breathed? Brother? Kili squeezed his eyes and flinched. Brothers at arms. All thirteen of them, fourteen if you included Bilbo, which he did. But only one brother mattered now. The one his mother had sung into the Halls of the Fallen.

"I protest this action." Male voice. "He simply should not be moved. When we did this with the other it reopened wounds that should have been left in peace to heal."

Tauriel's voice was quiet, but no less commanding for a lack of volume. "Bofur."

"No, no." The male voice sounded slightly put-out. For an elf, Kili wondered if that was a strong emotion? "Oh, my prince. Good. These, two, were about to make a most unwelcome move."

Bofur cleared his throat and then launched into an impassioned speech on why Kili HAD to be moved, for the lad's own good. Listening, Kili hoped he would lose. He didn't want to move. He hurt too much, inside and out.

Prince Legolas, apparantly, didn't care. He cut off the other male elf almost rudely. "It matters not. Live or die, what is one less dwarf in the world?"

Bofur was clearly insulted, huffing and puffing as he protested. "But, but ...you came to our'n aid in the battle! Well, after you'n all tried to take what ya wanted, but still and all, you'n your kin came to our aid! It was a grand sight it was!"

"I followed the orders of my king and father. Nothing more." Legolas blew off the words as of no consequence. "If they want to move the dwarfling, let them. If it kills him, it's not on us."

Kili suspected that the blond prince had left the room, as he said no more. Instead a pair of elves moved toward him. The first one to touch him got a hiss from Tauriel. That beauty instead instructed the elves to carry the entire bed, so as to jostle him all the less with Bofur jabbering on his agreement.

"No." Kili wasn't sure that he had even managed to speak, or if the protest had been solely within his mind.

The elves slowly put the bed down again. Bofur fell silent for a moment. "Lad?"

Good, he must have really spoken. Straining, he tried again. "No."

Tauriel leaned in, suddenly hovering over him. Even with his eyes closed, Kili could tell when she was near. There was a clean smell, no scent, not like the silly women among the world of Men. This was the clean, clear smell of the forest. It pulled at things deep in his soul, and ruthlessly he pulled away from his own feelings.

"Kili?"

He wanted to explain, he wanted to yell, he wanted to grab her and shake her until she understood, he wanted to hold her. He wanted her to hold him. All he managed was to turn his head toward the wall, away from her scent, her presence.

"Your brother lives. Fili lives."

"Liar." She lied. Hurt and betrayal roiled up within him. How dare she lie to him? He'd seen his brother's body, he'd heard the songs. He'd seen his mother's sorrow and her tears.

"Take him." Tauriel stood up, moving away from him. That shouldn't have made him feel cold, but it did. Soul chilled, his brother would have called it. Like he had when their father had left the world of the living to rest among their dwarven forefathers. Fili.

"No." He coughed on the word, his voice raspy and hoarse beyond measure.

They didn't listen to him, carrying his bed out the door. Weak and weary as he was, Kili managed a snarl and opened his eyes for the first time in two weeks. He might once have marvelled at the beauty of the Elven architecture, or wondered at the soaring staircases and the delicate carvings. Now he only felt hate. Hate that they were trying to make him live.

He heard Tauriel gasp as he tried to roll off the side of the bed, only to moan and cry out as he put weight on his right side. "Stop that!" Her voice grew sharper with command, and he grew more stubborn. Kili gritted his teeth and tried for the left side. But he was weak, managing to get only one leg off the bed. And if that leg happened to smack some random elf, all the better. To his disappointment, he struck no one. The only one hurting was him.

"In here! Hurry."

Kili rolled to the right again, more from instinct than thought. Pain swallowed him and he groaned, curling up bit from sheer reflex. Angry now, he opened his eyes and frowned at the graceful elven male carrying his bed. Balling up his left hand, he struck the elf in the eye.

Unhurt, but shocked, the elf stopped. Unfortunately, the elf on the other side of the bed didn't. The whole bed tilted alarmingly. Bofur made a grab and caught the head of the bed, as did Tauriel. But the foot fell, causing Kili to slide down the sharp incline and onto the cold floor. In pain, and heaving, Kili grimmaced up at them in sharp triumph.

"I said ...No ... Fili?"

Shocked, Kili was lying on the floor next to another bed. One that was occupied. The last time he'd seen that hair it had been covered in drying blood, with the face covered. Now the hair was clean, the skin was uncovered, and the cheeks were ...moving. "Fili?"

His older brother's face settled into a wan smile, no less genuine for being weakened by injury. "Kili. You causing a stir?"

Red hair fell down beside his face an instant before Tauriel's face bent down next to him. "Call me a liar again, and we will have to face off on the battlefield."

"Any, anytime ..." Kili managed, his eyes never leaving his brother. He wanted to reach for Fili, but his arm wasn't working right. he looked at his right side, paling as he saw that it was splinted and wrapped and there were blood stains on the fresh white bandages.

"You opened up our hard work." Tauriel scolded.

Unable to come up with a complete thought, much less a sentence, Kili just blinked at her. Then he grinned widely.

The change in his face made Tauriel blink and an answering smile crossed her face before she could bring her expressioon back into line, falling back into that elvish look of mere observance.

"Thorin?" Kili asked with excitement. "Where's Uncle?"

Tauriel's expression tightened slightly. Kili looked over at Bofur, who was suddenly staring into the bowl of his unlit pipe. Finally, he looked to the one he'd always looked to his entire life. "Fili? Where is Thorin?"

But his brother's own gaze had dropped. "Kili ..."

"No." Kili protested. "I saw you die. I heard the songs, I know you were dead. I know it. Now you're not. So what about Thorin?"

Bofur cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Then he did it again. Finally, he sighed. "Lad. The line of Durin has been severed. You're all dead. Some just more dead than others."

"Huh?" Kili shook his head.

"Brother, there are three tombs in Erebor that are new. Well, more than that. But three royal. Me, you and Thorin. Only one is occupied." Fili's voice sounded dull with resignation.

Bofur sighed deeply. "Lad, much has happened of late. Dain arrived in time to help turn the tide, but Thorin had already fallen. You'n Fili were grave wounded. Dis came too, she saw. She saw Dain's face when he'n his saw the treasures of Erebor, she saw the speculation on his ugly mug."

Tauriel put her hand on his shoulder, Kili gratefully turned to look at her, even as he knew the news would be anything but good. "You and Fili were hovering near death, too near for Dain."

"King Dain, King Under the Mountain." Bofur interjected.

Kili protested wordlessly, turning a frantic look at his older brother.

"If Fili had stayed 'alive' he would have died before morn." Bofur chewed on the stem of his pipe, clearly wishing it were lit. "Dain, well, he likes being king."

"And the treasure." Tauriel added sadly.

"It be Dis, your'n own mother, who made the call. She and Balin." Bofur continued.

Fili laughed without mirth. "She knew we would never survive to take the throne, not even with our bloodlines. Dain has the armies and the might. Balin refuses to serve Dain, he is going to try and take Moria back."

Kili shook his head, even as Tauriel slid her arms beneath him. He protested as she rose with him in her arms. Blushing he protested. "Put me down."

"You need to be in bed." She retorted.

"Joining me?" Kili leered.

Bofur choked on sudden laughter and even Fili managed a weak chuckle. "Boy'n, you are too weak to even sit up. Leave off'n the lassie now. Least we know he's feeling better."

"When do we go back?" Kili asked, puzzled when everyone fell silent. He looked around, a bit offput that everyone was staring back at him. "When will we be well enough to go back to Erebor?"

"Oh laddie." Bofur's voice was beyond sad.

"You won't." Kili's head turned toward the doorway. Prince Legolas had apparently been watching them this whole time. He seemed cold and distant as he glared at the dwarf being held by Tauriel.

The other two elves set the bed to rights as the Silvan she-elf placed her charge onto the newly straightened sheets. One gave a small nod of his head, the other tightened his lips in disapproval. Kili thought it might have something to do with him being the one he'd punched earlier.

"Seriously, how long before we're well enough to travel?" Kili asked again, wondering if Tauriel's hand had really lingered on his neck for a moment or if that was mere wishful thinking on his part.

Prince Legolas stepped into the room, looking as solid as a statue, and with about as much emotion as one as well. "You can leave now for all I care."

Bofur sighed again, wincing as he rolled his head for a moment. "Lad. You're dead."

"Am not." Kili protested, grinning weakly. He really was beat, even if he was elated at seeing Fili.

Fili groaned and took a deep breath. "Brother, for all the world we're dead and we're going to stay dead. The line of Durin is over."

Kili frowned, trying to work through it all in his head. "We can take Dain."

"Dain maybe, but not his armies. Or anyone he has allegiances with. Like Bard?" Fili sounded resigned, and not terribly happy.

"Or my father." Prince Legolas supplied this last bit of news with perhaps a bit of spite in his tone. "Gandalf ...and others ...have bargained for your lives. Not your throne."

"But ..." Kili's eyes widened with the enormity of what was being presented. "We can't let everyone think we're dead. What about mother?"

Fili sighed, balling his hands into fists. "Whose idea do you think all of this was?"

Shocked, even Kili fell silent.


	2. Visitors

Kili said nothing as the elves carried his bed, with him upon it, back to his room. His room? For the first time since regaining consciousness, he looked around.

The elaborate scroll work carved into the woodwork was undoubtedly lovely, if you were an elf. For a dwarf, it just looked incomplete. No inlaid stonework, jewels, gold, or any other metal.

Kili gritted his teeth, still saying nothing, as the elves began unwrapping his bandages. That's when he suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing much more than those bandages. That and a thin pair of shorts. He'd be indecently dressed, if he weren't wrapped up like some present, all that was missing was the brightly colored ribbon tied into a bow.

No, he took it back. He did have bright colors, ruefully he winced as one of the elf medics started to peel away the parts of the bandage that were soaked through with fresh blood. "I guess I broke it open again, huh?"

A quick look, indecipherable, was all he got from that source.

"You weren't nearly as bad at it as your brother." Rather surprised that Prince Legolas was still present, Kili gave him a quick look. "Fili thrashed around quite a bit when he first arrived."

"That's Prince Fili to you." Snapped Kili, perturbed by the lack of respect in the elf prince's voice. Deference he didn't expect, but a basic courtesy? Wasn't the guy an elf?

He could have sworn that the blond elf almost smiled for an instant, but then the moment was gone. "Not anymore. No titles anymore. You're dead, remember?"

"Legolas." There was no chiding or reproof in her voice, nothing to indicate a lack of respect. But the blond prince flinched, very slightly at the Silvan elf's call of his name. Interesting.

The pretty blond prince said something swift in Elvish. Tauriel replied in kind. Kili would have tried to follow the conversation, but his command of that language was probably less than poor. A few words here or there, nothing much. But the two looked calm, as if discussing guard rotations or some such.

Kili winced as a compress was pressed against his inner elbow. He turned to look, and then went pale as a ghost. THAT was what was under the bandages? It didn't look like an arm, it looked like something that had been through a meat grinder. Thrice. Oh shit.

o.o.o.o.o

"You are a Captain in my father's guard. It is unseemly for you to tend to these former princinglings like this." This one especially, Legolas did not add.

Tauriel did not disagree outwardly, that was not the elvish way. Either for High Elves nor for the much more lowly Silvan Elves, such as she. "They still are in danger."

Legolas' mouth tightened very slightly. "They are thought of as dead and buried."

"There are those that know otherwise." Tauriel commented.

Abandoning that thread of thought, Legolas twitched his chin sharply in the young dwarf's direction. "Will he survive?"

"The medics are hopeful." The red-headed she-elf stated blandly, pushing to the back of her mind how her eyes had felt heavy with moisture when she'd been informed that Kili was out of iminent danger. "It remains to be seen if they will recover ...fully."

As if sensing that her feelings for this particular dwarf went deeper than was seemly, Legolas held his breath for a second. Not that he could do anything. They were honored 'guests' of his fathers, and his father's own distinguished guests. Guests that had his father both fawning slightly, feeling haughty, and at the same time ...almost nervous. Guests that he, the prince, had not been invited to meet as yet.

"Your father has ordered them ...protected." Tauriel continued, varnishing over the fact that she could have assigned others to the task.

"Indeed." To call her on the fact that she didn't need to personally guard the two dwarf brothers, was to admit to the fact that he didn't want her so involved. It was a razor's edge of etiquette. "As soon as they are healed enough to move, it will be a good day." An understatement. Meaning, he wanted the two of them gone.

Tauriel nodded, wondering why the good prince was so against their visitors. This went beyond a mere dislike of dwarves, surely. She wasn't so blind that she couldn't tell that Prince Legolas seemed to have a dislike of the race, but so did many an elf. No, this went beyond that.

"You haven't been out in the forest since returning with your ...charges." With him.

Suprised, Tauriel nodded. "Perhaps a day outside would be good."

Legolas subtly relaxed, although no expression dared to show on his features.

"Once the brothers are well enough to be moved, of course."

The elvish prince's spine stiffened and he gave her a long, long look before finally nodding. "Of course."

Tauriel waited, but no more was said. "Do you need aught else, my prince?" Once she would not have tacked on his title. But ever since the King had less than subtly told her to make sure that his son did not become attached, she had tried to politely distance herself. Not that she didn't care for her friend, but he was the King's son. And she was no more than a Silvan elf.

If Legolas was hurt by her use of his title, rather than his name, he didn't show it. But then, she'd expect nothing less from her more controlled friend. Collegue. Leige. Sometimes elvish society was a minefield to traverse.

Perhaps that was why she had enjoyed so much the conversations that she'd had with young Kili, back when he'd been a prisoner. A ghost of a smile tickled her lips. Some prisoner. He'd acted more the guest. He'd been so easy to talk to, and he'd been so eager to listen to her ramblings as well. Ramblings that another elf might consider superfluous or silly. He hadn't.

"Since that is all, I'll take my leave." Legolas gave her a dismissive nod, turning toward the door. For all the world giving the impression that she hadn't picked up on some elusive conversational cue.

Nothing showed on her face, but Tauriel felt chagrined. She hadn't realized that the prince had been waiting for something ...something from her?

"Well, well. I have sticks splinting my arm, and he has them up his butt. Huh?"

Startled, Tauriel turned to look at her dwarf. No, no ...not 'her' dwarf. A dwarf. One of two. Three if you counted Bofur. Or four if you counted Oin, who still came by to check in on things. Five, no four, you couldn't count Balin who only came by once. Apparently he was keeping his distance in order not to call attention to them all. The same with Dis, who was Fili and Kili's mother. She'd been once. An intimidating block of solid muscle and haughty attitude, with a beard more impressive than either of her sons. So four.

"You should not speak so about our Lord's son." Chided one of the medics, giving a cool look at his charge.

Tauriel, reminded of her duty, nodded. "That was rudely spoken."

"I'm a dwarf. A dead one, even." Kili grinned rather palely. "A one-armed sickly, dead dwarf. What can you expect?" On his last word his voice faded into a hiss of pain.

Watching his skin turn green, Tauriel put her hand on his left shoulder. "Breathe."

Kili gasped for air.

Tauriel frowned. "Breathe, not suck in the entire atmosphere in one quick breath."

He hissed and bit his lip, blindly reaching out with his left hand until it found purchase. He tightened his grip, pulling for all he was worth until the sharpness of the immediate pain passed.

Suprised, Tauriel held his hand, for it had been her hand that he'd grabbed. His grip was strong, despite being so ill and injured. But it was a point of pride not to react as he squeezed on the delicate bones of her hand. Once the immediency of the pain passed him, he let up on the pressure. She flexed her fingers subtly, but didn't dislodge his grip.

His hand was warm. Perhaps too warm? Fever maybe. Or were dwarves usually this warm? She hadn't touched any others and had no frame of reference. There was a light dusting of dark hair on the back of his hands. Blunt fingers. Nothing delicate about her dwarf. Chagrined, she dropped his hand. He wasn't 'hers'!

"Sorry." Apparently Kili hadn't realized he'd grabbed her, until she'd let him go. "I didn't hurt you?"

"No." She said simply. She didn't mention that her hand felt cold now that he was no longer touching her. "I think he might have a fever." The red-head spoke, deliberately turning away from talking directly to Kili.

The medic shook his head. "Low grade, to be expected. Dwarves usually run warmer than our kind though."

Tauriel nodded, nice to have her unasked question answered. Involuntarily, she wondered what it would be like to sleep next to a heat furnace such as a dwarf, during the long winter nights. But not just any dwarf, just a certain one. Suddenly embarassed, the red-head turned away. Her thoughts were becoming, unseemly.

"Tauriel."

On his tongue, her name felt like a caress. Ignoring the shiver running up her spine, she nodded. "Yes?"

Kili gave her a sad look. She thought she knew his question, it would be one of her first questions. The arm. "Fili."

Tauriel blinked. On reflection, she should have known that his first question wouldn't be about himself. "I defer to the medics."

"You saved me from poisoning, back in Lake Town." He pointed out.

"Basics." Tauriel blushed lightly, having her poor attempts at healing brought up in front of the real medics.

"Young Master Fili was seriously injured, as were you yourself." The one who spoke was the elf he'd hit earlier. "We are hopeful that he will keep the leg."

Kili paled at the news, then nodded. Then he obviously tried to move his right arm, gasping out in pain as the arm itself protested. "And this?" He panted, his breathing turning labored for a moment.

"You'll keep the arm, yes." The medic nodded. "We are less certain on how much movement will return. It should be a full recovery, as long as you stop flinging yourself off the bed and onto your arm." It was a rebuke, plain and simple.

Kili smiled rather sheepishly, but nodded gamely enough.

"Need the arm to be an archer." The dwarf sighed.

Tauriel nodded. "Indeed."

"And to eat. Important thing, eating."

The red-head smiled lightly.

"And for music. Of course for music. We dwarves love a good song." He grinned at her.

"You call the noises you make music?" She teased him, no heat behind her words.

Kili grinned, some of his charm seeping back in now that he knew his brother would survive.

"Swordplay. Axes. Staves. All in need of two good arms."

"Of course." She agreed with him.

Kili's smile turned sexy, making her blink. "And for holding a woman. Definitely need my arm for that." His voice lowered, drawing an involuntary shiver from her that she has hard pressed to hide. Though she thought she'd managed.

"If you can catch one." She harumphed. "And if you know what to do with one."

Kili's laughter turned into a coughing fit, pulling him up to sitting and drawing frowns from the two medics still tending to him. "Fine, fine, fine ..."

"What else do you need your two good arms for?" She asked, prepared for an inappropriate answer. What she got shouldn't have surprised her.

"To win back my brother's throne." Kili's voice turned harsh, and his eyes stared steadily into her eyes.

Silence fell over the room. Tauriel could feel the gaze of the two medics turning toward her, unsure of what to say. But she had nothing either.

"Oh Kili." Sadness colored her voice.

"That's Prince Kili, younger brother of King Fili, King Under the Mountain. Not dead. Not dead at all."

"Oh dear." A tired voice from the doorway, filled with amusement and exasperation all at the same time. "I'm afraid you are sadly mistaken."

Relieved, Tauriel bowed and backed away, leaving the floor clear for the newcomer. "Mithrandir." His name was a plea.

Kili stilled, dark eyes drinking in the sight of the gray-haired wizard. "Gandalf. Help me."

"Oh I am, Kili. I am."


	3. Questions

**A/N: Hope you are enjoying! Just a note, the politics are not canon. And I own none of these characters, sadly.**

"It has been two and a half weeks! How can anyone heal if they have no good food?"

Tauriel sighed with false heaviness. Yes, it was an old arguement, but at least the dark-haired dwarf was strong enough to argue in the first place. "Two of those weeks were with you oblivious and unconscious." She pointed out with a calm voice.

Kili sputtered and grumped, looking delightfully cross. He ran his left hand through his hair and then growled when his fingers got tangled in the sweaty knots. "This is just gross! And I'm damnably hungry!"

The male medic blinked twice, the only sign that his patient might be a strain on his patience. "You have refused every meal today."

"Those weren't meals! Those were bowls of water that haven't even SEEN a haunch of beef, or poultry, or good venision. Fish? Fish would even be a welcome change!" Kili moaned and slumped back onto his pillows. "I'm dying." He whimpered melodramatically, plucking at his woolen blanket.

"No. I keep telling you, you are dead." Came an amused voice from the far side of the room.

Kili stiffened, jutting out his jaw. "I keep telling you, I ain't listening! And since you want me 'dead', starving me is a slow and mean way to kill a good dwarf!"

"Show me a 'good' dwarf and I'll tell him." Gandalf rejoined quietly. "And maybe him I'll feed. We've been going on like this for three days now. Save me from the stubborness of dwarves!"

"Cruel wizard." Muttered Kili, crossing his good left arm and then stiffening as his right arm wouldn't bend. "Fecking splints! And maybe I'd listen to you if I could hear your words over the grumbling of my empty belly!"

The wizard lowered his head and peered at the young dwarf male with an expression of fading patience. "What would you have us feed you? Your gut was opened and nearly on the wrong side of your body by an orcish blade. You're damned lucky the elves are such supurlitive healers. But that doesn't mean that your body is up to the task of an actual meal as of yet."

Kili stilled completely, his dark eyes widened. Tauriel blinked, suddenly less happy.

Gandalf looked around the room at the healers who refused to meet his eyes. He glanced at the obviously shocked Kili. "They judged you weren't ready to know. I judge differently, based on ...well, how much you are annoying me."

"He knows now." Tauriel said shortly. "And I have a feeling you won't be any less annoyed now that he does."

Gandalf nodded with resignation. Kili's mind was obviously racing, expression after expression chasing across his mobile features before finally settling on consternation. A moment later his jaw firmed and he raised his dark eyed gaze toward the wizard, opening his mouth to speak.

"Nicked one of your lungs with a thrust as well. Skewered like a Troll's dinner." Gandalf interjected before the young dwarf could even form his first word, much less his argument. "Having trouble taking a full breath?"

Kili shook his head, the lie obvious to all in the room. Even himself. The dark-haired male frowned sharply. "I still want food." He grumped in a much more subdued manner. "Not hot water that has had a leaf dipped into it so you can call it soup and not be lying. Completely."

The male medic, who had not yet seen fit to share his name, shook his head mutely.

Tauriel watched the young male struggle with pride versus reality. It was obvious that Kili had never before been faced with a situation he could not fight or charm his way clear of. She gave him a deliberately light smile. "How about hot water with you dipped in?"

Kili's liquid dark eyes blinked with the change of subject, looking a bit lost. Then he smiled, and it was if the clouds had cleared and the sun was bright again. "A bath?" Hope clear in his voice.

The elven medic nodded, although a tad reluctantly.

"Our King has given his permission for the use of the Elissia pools."

The medic's clear blue eyes widened slightly, then he nodded with a smile of his own. "A most generous offer."

Tauriel nodded in agreement, although to herself she did wonder if King Thranduil made the offer from any form of generosity or from expedience. Had he judged that if the two dwarven males healed quicker, they would leave his kingdom that much faster?

"Eilissia pools?" Gandalf questioned, then nodded carefully. "I have only heard of the great healing springs of the Woodland Elves."

"He'll have to be carried." Tauriel commented.

Kili protested weakly, pride warring with the need to be clean. "Fili too?"

The medic paused and considered for a long moment. Finally he gave a slow nod. "I will arrange for the litters." He turned and stared at his patient. "And perhaps tonight you can try a weak rice porridge."

"Joy, joy." Kili mocked, though still smiling. "With a side of beef?"

Gandalf laughed and shook his grey head. "You can't live without pushing your luck."

"Still not talking to you." Kili said in a sing-song voice.

_"Gandalf, Gandalf Wizard Grey_

_wandering the world and laying claim_

_to deeds of wonder come what may_

_But absent from the bluffs_

_Where he'd said he ..."_

"Enough!" Barked the affronted wizard. "Young, stupid, ignorant dwarf with rocks in place of his brains."

Kili smiled smugly. "It would have gone better with the sound of a fiddle. But ...well, you know." He wiggled the fingers on his wounded and splinted right arm. Proud that they actually moved, even it was a rather stiff motion.

"You weren't there to invade Erebor any more than I was." Snapped the irritated wizard.

Kili snarled. "I was wounded and in Lake Town. And I still tried to go! Thorin refused me." His voice dripped with both hurt and anger beyond measure. "You. You were missing!"

"He was a prisoner." Came a weary voice.

Kili's head turned sharply to stare at his older brother, resting on a litter carried by four elves. He shook his head, as if disbelieving.

"Shut up." Fili spat out the words. "Just

shut up, Kili."

The younger of the brothers paled. "I said nothing."

"You were thinking too loudly." Fili said, no energy in his voice.

Worried, dark eyes sought out green eyes. It was completely odd to seek comfort from someone other than Fili, but he did so without thought. Finding himself surprised that he'd done so in the first place.

Tauriel gave a sigh and shrugged. She didn't know why Fili looked worse, rather than better than he had yesterday either.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili groaned and leaned back in the heated pools, breathing in the heavy mineral scents. He raised one hand, watching the water fall between his fingers and rubbed his hand over his face. His skin felt smooth, smoother than mere water would have provided.

"These springs have a certain healing property."

Fili ignored Gandalf, letting the heat of the water seep into his bones. Into his marrow.

The wizard fell silent as he looked over toward the other side of the pools where Kili was arguing with Tauriel, trying to talk her into getting into the pools with him. "He doesn't understand. He needs you."

A long silence, then Fili sighed. "I don't understand either." He admitted harshly.

Gandalf nodded and drew upon his pipe, relaxing in the peaceful bower hidden in the shade from the late afternoon sunlight. "I thought the Lady had explained well enough."

Fili lost his frown as he considered the High Elven leader he had met a few days ago. One who had left him stunned. "If I try to claim my name and throne, it will lead to a civil war amoung the dwarves. Many would die. Too many. And something the elves need will be lost forever."

Gandalf blew out a smoke ring that turned into the symbol of a question mark, including the dot at the bottom. "Not just the elves, everyone."

"What?"

The wizard shrugged and hemmed and hawed, before finally admitting that he himself had no clue.

"She's left." Fili stated, although it was actually a form of question.

Gandalf nodded, admitting that the High Elf had indeed left for her own home. "She left today." Then after a long pause, he added something else. "She has the far sight."

"The vague sight." Fili protested without heat. "You know, I never wanted the throne."

A bit surprised, Gandalf blew out a new smoke ring in the shape of the Arkenstone. Dain II's new symbol of a legitimate throne.

"It was my mother-brother's right. I always expected him to win, marry, produce a new heir. Mother never let me think the throne might one day be mine. It would either belong to Thorin, or I would be dead protecting him."

"Kili too." Gandalf said quietly.

The older of the two brothers nodded slowly. "He's never thought of himself as king material. Hero yes, but not king."

"Reckless." Commented the wizard.

The blond dwarf chuckled without true mirth, but nodded. "Throws himself into everything. But loyal as they come."

"You as well." Gandalf allowed. "Loyal to Thorin."

Fili gritted his teeth. "You should have let us die with him. We were to rule with him, or be buried next to him."

A deep sigh was his answer, Gandalf looked down at his foot for a long moment before raising his gaze to meet that of the young dwarf. "It is not disloyal to survive."

"Isn't it?" Fili growled deep in his throat. He took a deep breath and struggled to extend his knees. The left one was slow to answer and he groaned as he pushed through the pain as he snarled. Finally straight, the blond dwarf stared at his recalcitrent leg and swore under his breath. "I can't let go of the throne."

"You don't want it."

"I don't want anyone other than Thorin to have it. Especially not his blasted cousin who refused to aid us on the quest for Erebor in the first place!" This last was said with an escalating tone that rose in volume with each word until the final one was shouted into Gandalf's direction.

Silence fell over the entire area. All eyes turned toward them both. Fili could hear his younger brother call to him in question. Kili had his back. Even injuried, and even if it killed him, his brother would come. Against a wizard if need be.

"Why should Dain rule over a place, and have a treasure, he turned his back on in the first place?" Fili asked, his voice once more lowered so that his words were private.

"Kili would die." Gandalf dropped each word like they held actual physical weight. "So would you. Your mother. Balin. Bofur. Oin. Bombur. Each and every one of you. Probably even Bilbo. Anyone Dain would suspect of harboring treason."

"Bombur." Fili chuckled, thinking of the fattest of their former group.

"You shouldn't laugh." Gandalf chided. "He is a singularly minded individual."

Fili nodded. "When it comes to food, he can think of nothing else. Until it's time to sleep. Then he can think of nothing else. First to sleep and last to rise."

Gandalf leveled a very serious look at the much younger dwarf. "It has been reported by several that your Uncle Thorin sent Bombur to work the bellows during their struggle with Smaug the Dragon."

Fili shrugged.

The wizard sighed. "Bombur ran for the bellows and worked them without fail. Without running away, despite a rampaging dragon roaring around the forges while every other dwarf ran around trying to survive. He stayed where he was sent. He never failed your Uncle." Gandalf smiled fondly. "Singularly minded. And his mind was, and is, set to loyalty. Thorin knew his worth, that's why he was with the group. Physical appearance aside, you can't find a more loyal follower. He would have followed Thorin into death ...and he would follow you, as Thorin's heir."

"Dain would kill him." Fili whispered, feeling small for his earlier laughter at the fat dwarf's expense. It was hard seeing someone in a new way, even when it was someone you already liked.

"Without fail." Gandalf nodded solemnly. "My point is simple. The dwarves that followed your uncle had one thing in common. Utter loyalty to the idea of Erebor as 'home', and to the reality of your uncle as king. They went off to face a fire-breathing dragon on a quest everyone else considered impossible. For love and loyalty to one man and his bloodline. Yours."

Fili swallowed hard, feeling the lump in his throat.

"If you try and take your uncle's throne, they will follow you and others will rise up as well. War will come. Dwarves will die. Far too many. Families would be destroyed. And the only one to make any gain would be our Enemy of Old."

Fili coughed and sputtered, pointing at the wizard. "There! There you go! Talking like _her_! Old Enemy? What are you two blathering on about? I take the throne, win or lose ...how does this affect the elves? The wizards?"

Gandalf sighed. "The Lady Galadriel was as clear as any could be when looking into the possible futures. If the dwarves descend into civil war, something _vital_ will be lost. Something that could help turn the tide in the coming war, that will encircle more than merely the dwarven world, but the entirety of Middle Earth."

Fili stared wide-eyed at the wizard. "She didn't make sense, and neither do you."

The Grey Wizard jerked his shoulder and waved his pipe at the young dwarf. "Neither she nor I can make this decision for you. We're just telling you some of the consequences. Not to mention, your mother has forbidden you to try this course of action!"

For the first time that afternoon, Fili laughed for real. "Oh, now you're just sounding desperate, to bring my dam into it!"

Gandalf's serious expression eased a bit and he chuckled. "Dis is a most intimidating female."

Fili's laughter increased as he nodded emphatically. "Oh wizard, you have NO clue how true a statement that is!"

"With a more intimidating beard than either of you brothers, or even combined!"

Fili's laughter faded naturally and he smiled freely for the first time since awakening. "And she never lets us forget it!"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili felt worried, watching the slow and painful way his brother settled onto the litter the elves had placed him upon.

Next to him he felt Tauriel settle her hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine. He was nearer to true death when you both were found. He's been fighting a severe infection and needs to rest."

"That weed you used on me that first time ..."

"Would be of no use in this particular situation. Our medics are the finest, and your brother is already healing. It takes time."

Kili frowned, watching the elves carry his brother back towards King Thranduil's ...home? Palace? Weird underground, yet not a cave and with trees on the inside place? "Elves are weird."

The hand on his shoulder tightened painfully.

"They leave me alone with you." Kili switched from a painful subject to a more fun one. "Don't they worry I'll take advantage?"

"No." She sounded far too amused.

That's when it registered. To be standing next to him, with her hand on his shoulder, she needed to be ...in the water. Kili turned his head to look at her, shocked.

Tauriel smiled wickedly, one second before she pushed him ruthlessly underwater.

Kili came up sputtering, his dark hair stuck to his face and covering his eyes. Trying to catch his breath was difficult. "Wha?"

Something cold touched the top of his head. Something wet and herbal smelling. Confused, Kili sniffed and then sighed with abject pleasure as her fingers found his head.

Tauriel smiled as she stood behind the dark-eyed dwarf, hair cleaner lathering his sweat-soaked scalp as she massaged his head. Sounds of deep and abject pleasure escaped his mouth as he sank to mid-chest level in the heated spring.

"An elf at my back. At my back. I'm trusting you." He breathed out the words for all the world sounding like he was in the throes of passion. "You won't drown me, right?"

Tauriel's cheeks reddened slightly, liking the sounds eminating from him. From her touch. They weren't really alone. The springs, although private, were not off-limits. At least not to the High Elves. She, as a Silvan elf, well ...that was different.

The sounds Kili was making made it sound like she was touching more private areas than his head. And she should be entirely clinical about the situation. But his pleasure drew her. The way he leaned his head back into her hands, almost purring, had her blushing. Not out of embarrassment, not entirely.

Warm, the she-elf swallowed, but did not stop massaging his head. He was taking so much pleasure from something so simple, and ...it thrilled her. It made her wonder what sounds he would make if she drew her fingers down the side of his face. What did whiskers feel like?

Facial hair was an unknown among the elves. What did it feel like? Her fingers followed her thoughts. It was hair. On his head. Wouldn't it need to be cleaned too? She made the excuses to herself even as she felt the tickling sensation of the bristly hair. Not as soft has his regular, longer hair, but ...not unpleasant.

Kili sighed most happily. "I have more hair on my chest." He hummed invitingly.

Tauriel leaned in to say something clever and cutting, only to still. She looked up suddenly, finding Legolas' blue eyes on her.

Chilled, she turned into a virtual statue. Kili protested. "Don't stop." He pleaded breathlessly.

"No. Don't stop." The voice shocked Tauriel. Musical, beautiful, and she hadn't sensed this presence at all.

The Silven Elf dropped her gaze and dipped her head. "Lady."

"Prince? Your escort is ready?" The High Elven queen stepped gracefully from the shadows of the bower.

Legolas glared at the dwarf, whose head she was still holding. Yet he nodded. His cold gaze moved to meet hers and he gave a half smile. "I am informing a captain in my father's guard, I will be gone for an extended visit to Imladris."

Tauriel nodded, shocked. The Prince was leaving?

Kili chortled. "Hey! I may not speak Elvin, what with not being able to trip my tongue all over itself like a babbling brook. But I know that word! Imladris! Rivendell! Right? I'm right, aren't I?"

Taurield didn't even think about it, she shoved his head underwater again. This time she kept him there. When Kili's good arm started flailing she heard the Lady Galadriel chuckle.

"Don't drown him, the medics might be cross at their hard work being wasted."

Shocked at being addressed by one so high, to her ...one so very low. Tauriel let him up.

Kili, hair streaming down his face gasped for breath, and once he caught it he began swearing in earnest. Embarrassed beyond measure, Tauriel shoved him under once more.

"Prince? Please go make the final arrangements." Galadriel cut a look out of the corner of her eyes and Legolas moved immediately, but not before throwing an unreadable look toward Tauriel.

Alone. Alone with a drowning dwarf and a High Elven queen. Tauriel stared at the water, then realized that Kili wasn't struggling as hard. Shocked, she pulled him up and held him up as he struggled to catch his breath. His chest rising and falling with the efforts of breathing. That's when she realized that the hair on his chest was soft, much softer than that on his face.

Heat bloomed throughout her body, not just her cheeks. Still she didn't look up. Not with the Lady still there.

Galadriel smiled, even if none could see her. She cocked her head and said something soothing to the dwarf, but behind the scenes she looked deeper into his heart. 'Seeing' him. Surprise lit her eyes and she smiled.

"It would be shame to lose such a treasure." She said smoothly, in a musical voice.

Kili continued to struggle to catch his breath, his recent injuries making that difficult. Tauriel's jaw tightened, wondering why the High Lady would make fun of the dwarf like that, even if he couldn't understand her words. She was hurt for him.

"I don't mock him."

Tauriel caught her breath, wondering if her thoughts were open to be read. It was said the Lady could do that, but she'd always thought that to be an exaggeration. Until now.

"He is a treasure, to some. One it would be a shame to lose." Galadriel's voice was sweeter than the birds in the spring. And her sincerity loosened something tight within the Silvan elf. "But it is a poor, poor thing not to answer his question."

"Question?" The word left her mouth before she could stop it, shocked she bit her lip. What question? Oh, whether or not she would drown him. After he said he trusted her. Feeling badly, she sighed. He might think she'd tried to do just that.

Galadriel chuckled as she stepped back into the shadows, but before she disappeared completely her last words struck Tauriel like a body blow.

"No. Not that question."

In her mind a vision arose, of Kili, sorely injured and lying in Lake Town. Poisoned. His voice called to her, weakened as he'd been. _"Do you think she could have loved me?"_

"You have a bad habit of not answering him, child."


	4. Gifts

Tauriel didn't raise her eyes to her king, not that she wasn't allowed, but she did not want him to read her confusion. "I have done nothing beyond my duty as a Captain."

"And yet that seems to catch his eye, or rather, both eyes." King Thranduil spoke in a voice like silk, every movement of his body a study in absolute grace.

His eyes. Legolas. Prince and heir. Her friend, and one she respected greatly. And liked. But he did not make her heart race, or enter her dreams uninvited. Like another.

"My son informs me that his journey to spend time in Imladris 'can not be taken just yet'." Did the king's voice show impatience just then, she wondered? Surely not. "You say nothing."

Startled, Tauriel realized that her liege was expecting an answer. Unfortunately, she did not have one to give.

_"You have a bad habit of not answering him, child."_

High Queen Galadriel's words haunted her, just like they had for the past week. Unbidden, Kili's laughing face entered her mind. Every time he smiled, it pulled at her. When he laughed, her own mood lightened. When he ...the king moved slightly, nothing much but it pulled her focus back to the conversation at hand. One in which she had yet to answer. "I ...do not know what you want me to say, my king."

"You have nothing to do with Legolas' decision to delay his visit to Imladris?" The question was leading, as if King Thranduil already knew the answer. But in this, she knew herself to be innocent.

Tauriel shook her head slightly. "I have not shared duties with him since you first asked me not to ..." Her voice trailed off, unsure how to say the next part.

"Asked?" King Thranduil's eyebrow rose with mocking sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Tauriel dropped her gaze, letting her long red hair swing forward to shield her expression. She hoped that her features showed none of her consternation, Silvan elves were far less schooled in controlling their emotions than were the High Elves.

"I told you not to give him reason to look in your direction." The silk in his voice was still there, but so was the subtle menace.

The she-elf looked up, but did not raise her eyes past his collarbone. "And I have not."

The king cocked his head to one side, considering her for a long moment. Finally, he nodded. "Perhaps not."

Before she could relax, the king continued. "Perhaps you should do something."

"Something?" She asked.

King Thranduil sighed heavily, as if disappointed with her in some way. "Something." He restated, waving one hand in an offhand manner. "Something with another. Surely there is someone who has caught your lovely gaze? Share a dance, take a private meal. Something." He reitterated.

Without her consent, her mind filled with the image of a certain dark-haired, dark-eyed, dwarf. The memory of his laughter filled her ears and a shiver of anticipation raced down her spine.

Missing nothing, the king stilled, his attention caught. "Oh. I see that there is." He smiled benignly, almost happily. "Grand. That makes this easier. I have no wish to hurt you, you have been superlative as a Captain within my guard."

Tauriel nodded her appreciation of his compliment, although her mind was racing and unable to find purchase on this slippery slope. Did the king know of her ...preoccupation? It was no secret he cared nothing for dwarves.

"Make yourself known." The king nodded, as if this settled everything. "Unless ..." He paused and gave her his full attention. "Someone of too high a rank?"

Like a prince? Of a kingly bloodline? But then, as a dwarf that would matter nothing to Thranduil. "No, my liege."

"Oh, don't look so worried." The king sounded magnamonious. "I don't mean to make a spectacle. Just quietly let it be known you have interests elsewhere."

Let it be known to Legolas, he meant. Tauriel nodded and when the king turned his back to her, she knew she'd been dismissed. But she couldn't help herself. "And if this interest means leaving your service my king?"

If she wanted him to protest, she was doomed to disappointment. "That would be sad indeed." He agreed, than waved one hand over his shoulder to compete the dismissal.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili stared at the bow, frowning sharply.

Legolas laughed lightly, if mockingly from his perch up in a nearby tree. He pointed one elegant finger at the bow. "That part in the middle is the grip."

Kili sneered, turned his head only slightly and shot an ill glare at the elf laughing down at him. He silently held up the elven long bow, resting the tip on the ground. It was as tall as he was. A bit taller, actually.

The blond elf let the ends of his mouth tilt up. "Ah. That could be an issue. Perhaps we have some bows taken from our enemies that you could use. Like an orcish bow?"

Both Kili and Fili stiffened at the implied insult.

"I believe we have a Rohirrim short bow in the armory." Tauriel walked up to the group, looking around with an utter calm she really didn't feel. "A less than fortunate orc died carrying it."

All eyes turned to her. Fili looked relieved to see her. But then, he wasn't an elf. Those of her own race? They stared.

Tauriel let the long sleeves of her blue gown drop down to cover her hands, the silver threads catching the sunlight prettily.

Allinier, the elvish medic, and his assistant both stared at her for a long moment, then one smiled while the other nodded companionably. Legolas went still, utterly still. Tauriel glanced with false casualness around the area. "I thought Bofur and Oin were to arrive today?"

"Not yet." Fili nodded a greeting at her, then returned his attention to a collection of knives as he tested the weight and merit of each one.

Tauriel couldn't help herself, her eyes travelled toward a certain person who kept invading her dreams. Kili stared back at her, his expressive eyes shielded. "You going to try and drown me again?"

At least this question she could answer honestly. "I have no immediate plans to do that."

He grunted, then grinned at her. "They're still not feeding me."

Allinier gave the young dwarf a lengthy look. "You had a meal right before we came out here."

Kili shook his head, his long hair pulled back in a silver clasp. "Weak rice porridge. Is. Not. A. Meal."

Legolas cleared his throat. Tauriel refused to look in his direction. The blond prince's blue eyes narrowed speculatively. The other elves missed none of this byplay. More than one mind raced with the implications.

"You sure look pretty." Fili commented, blind to the cultural implications of what was going on beneath the surface.

Tauriel nodded, but her eyes never left Kili. The younger of the brothers glanced down at himself and then back up at her, wondering what she found so interesting. "You sure you won't try and kill me again?"

She laughed lightly and shook her head. "No, I said I had no plans to drown you. Not that I would not try and kill you."

Startled, Kili gave a sharp bark of a laugh. Then he threw back his head and sighed happily. "Just so we're clear."

Legolas leapt down from his perch, landing close to the two of them. He glared at the dwarf, who met his look and narrowed his own gaze on the taller elf. He then turned to look at Tauriel. She did not meet his gaze, nor turn to him. "Do you hold a gift?" The words seemed torn from him.

From within her sleeve she pulled out a bottle, a silver one. Kili's face slipped into neutral. "More medicine?"

"Gingered ale. A change from water, and still good for you." She held it out to him.

Completely missing the implications, Kili took the bottle in his left hand, admiring the silver designs etched onto the surface. The elven medic and his assistant held their breathing, watching Legolas. The blond elven prince turned on his heels, anger snapping in his cold, cold eyes. He left without another word, he stopped at the edge of the clearing, his back to them all.

They waited for his words. But he had none. A long moment later, he continued on his way without further pause.

Fili, at least, seemed to notice the strain. He looked confused as he watched the departing prince's back. The older of the two dwarven brothers turned his gaze back to her, she felt the weight of it, but her own eyes were solely for Kili.

"Come, let us go inside." Allinier straightened up, motioning toward Fili and his own assistant. The blond dwarf raised one eyebrow in question. Amused, the medic shrugged lightly. "I want to check the dressing on your leg again."

Fili shook his head, confused. "You put a fresh dressing on it only an hour ago."

"You might have strained something." The assistant pointed out with abject reasonableness.

Fili's eyes widened. "I've been sitting down!" He held up the knives he'd been going through and pointed at a knot in a tree he'd been using for practice throws. "Just sitting!"

Kili opened the bottle, sniffing it carefully. "Poison?"

The two elf witnesses stiffened with shock and anger. Tauriel only smiled gently. "Gingered ale. It's a treat, and ginger is good for upset stomachs."

Kili ran his hand over his belly ruefully. "How did you know? My stomach hasn't felt good this afternoon."

"The orcish weapon that tore open your belly not quite a month ago wasn't enough of a clue?" She ignored Fili's grumbling as he gathered up all the knives and headed back inside with the two elven medics.

Kili looked around, seemingly surprised to find himself alone with her in the pretty little clearing. "What is going on?"

_"You have a bad habit of not answering his questions, child."_

Once again Galadriel's voice mocked her. She smiled. "It's a gift." There, that was deliberately vauge.

He snorted in amusement. "Last week you tried to kill me."

"If I wanted you dead, I'd already be visiting your grave." Tauriel pointed out calmly. "Instead I bring you a gift." One with a deep meaning, well not the gift itself but the act of giving it while wearing a certain type of dress. While looking at no one else.

"Thank you." Kili opened the bottled, sniffing it curiously. His nose wrinkled adorably. "It doesn't smell like ale. It tickles."

She smiled at him tenderly. "It's not ale, as in with alcohol. It's gingered."

"It's odd." Kili sniffed it again, then turned his head and sneezed, nearly losing his grip on the bow as he was holding it with his injured arm.

Tauriel gave him a soft look, knowing he was clueless. "Are you refusing my gift?" She asked, taking the bow out of his hand.

Kili shook his head, and his right hand. "I couldn't have nocked that." He sighed heavily. "The arm is weaker than I'd thought."

"Are you refusing my gift?" She asked again, more pointedly this time.

Interest sparked in his dark, dark eyes. This sounded more formal than he'd originally thought. Not sure what to say, he smiled charmingly. "No. I accept."

She waited, raising one eyebrow at him as a smile teased her lips.

KIli groaned. "This would go easier if I knew what the right response is to this gift."

Tauriel just continued to smile.

KIli groaned a second time, rolling his head. "Do I drink? Do I say thank you? Do I give you a return gift?" On that last one, her smile grew. He nodded thoughtfully. "A gift in return. To an elf who tried to drown me. Three times."

"Twice." She murmured.

He shook his head at her, then winced. "Stomach really doesn't feel that great. And it was three times. I went under three times. I counted."

She demurred and allowed the comment to pass.

Kili sighed and shrugged. "I have no gift to give you." He grimaced slightly. "I came with only the clothing on my back, and that was pierced through."

"And bloody." She nodded. "I remember." Her light tone did not betray the horror in her memory of finding him after the Battle of Five Armies, as it was now known. He'd been so still she hadn't been sure he'd still been alive. Not to mention being buried under the bodies of several orcs, and half a troll.

Kili nodded, then he smiled brightly. Her own smile answered his. He reached behind his head with his left hand and freed the dark fall of his hair from the silver clasp. One of a matching pair given to him and his brother by a cousin many years ago. "This means a lot to me."

Tauriel stilled, her attention struck as she saw his hair fall down to frame his face. A face that haunted her dreams and teased her senses. Her hand rose as she stepped closer, he stepped to meet her. But instead of reaching for the chased silver clasp her hand rose to his dark hair.

A bit startled, he looked up at her face. "Tauriel?"

"It's so different than ours." Her voice was soft, teasing. Alluring.

Kili moaned. "I damned well wish I felt better!"

The she-elf smiled as she entwined her fingers in his tresses, tugging slightly. "It waves."

The dwarf chuckled at her fascination, that laughter faded as her other hand rose to cup the side of his face. "Tauriel?"

The she-elf looked down into his eyes. The king may have ordered her to allow Legolas to see she had interest otherwise. But when she'd returned to her room, she realized ...this is what SHE wanted. Tauriel knew she could have accomplished what the king wanted in any number of ways. The custom of the Blue and Silver gift was showy, and formal. Unnecessary for the king's purposes. And exactly what she wanted.

"I accept." The red-headed elf took the silver hair clasp with one hand and leaned down, putting her forehead to his. "What would you do if I stole a kiss?"

Kili's eyes widened with appreciation, then he smiled. "You can't steal what is offered freely."

"What will it be like to kiss someone with a beard?" She murmured aloud.

"Tickles." Kili teased.

Tauriel pulled back slightly, giving him an odd look.

The dark-haired dwarf chuckled. "Dwarf females often have beards. I have kissed before, I am over 70."

"So old." Teased the 600 year old elf as she leaned in to claim her stolen kiss. Her lips met his and he opened for her immediately, his good hand reaching up to pull her in closer.

"My lady of starlight." He whispered.

She smiled softly. "I'm not too far away, now. So very close."

"Not close enough." Roughly he wrapped his good arm around her, pulling them even tighter together.

Tauriel felt dizzy for a moment, so heady was the first touch of lips. His tongue touched hers as she gasped, finding it hard to catch her breath. He tasted salty and familiar, slightly spicy. Kili pulled back far too soon, and she blinked at him.

Ruefully, the dark eyed dwarf apoligized. "I'm useless to you today. I really don't feel that well."

"You do look a bit green. Not the best compliment that I've ever ..." Tauriel paused, licking her lips. "Spicy." She whispered.

Kili chuckled weakly. "I'm sorry. Whoa!" He exclaimed as she suddenly moved in close to him again, smelling his breath.

"What did you eat today?" She demanded roughly.

"Nothing. Weak rice porridge counts as less than nothing." He snarked.

The she-elf shook her head. "Allinier!" She shouted, with her face so close to his he winced at the increased volume. "Weak rice porridge isn't spicy. Nor does it taste like salted pork."

He winced. She growled, her suspicions angering her.

The medic appeared at the edge of the clearing, looking a bit uncertain. Tauriel whirled and bit out the words angrily. "Salted pork?"

The medic stiffened, then sighed. "His brother's meal."

"I was starving!" The dwarf protested weakly.

The red-head looked worried. "He doesn't feel well, says his stomach is unsettled."

The medic rushed forward, grabbing the protesting young dwarven archer. He peered into the dark eyes and sighed. "It's been over an hour since lunch, but ..."

"But wha ...hey! STOP!" Kili screeched in affront as the elf medic spun him around stuck his hand into the dwarf's mouth. Muffled shouts of protest were overtaken by gagging noises. It wasn't long before the unauthorized meal made a return trip.

The unhealthy noises and yelling brought both the medic's assistant and a badly limping Fili. The blond dwarf yelped his brother's name and tried to rush to his side. Tauriel stepped into his way. He snarled at her.

She grabbed him by his cut down elven robes, balling them into a fist at his throat. "You gave him your meal?"

Suddenly unsure, Fili looked around her at his struggling younger brother. He paled. "That was bad?"

"Why did you think he was on a special diet?" Her voice rose alarmingly.

Fili blinked rapidly. "To be mean?" He whispered. "Kili was hungry, so hungry!"

"He had enough to fill his belly, but it wasn't dense foods for a reason!" She shook him a bit too hard and Fili started to lose his balance. Remorseful, she set him back on his feet in a way that didn't make it seem like she'd kept him from falling.

Steadying himself against a nearby tree, Fili sighed. "Pork. Potatoes. Greens."

The medic shook his head, peering at the mess on the ground. "Pork and potatoes, yes. Greens no."

"Hey! I ate the carrots." Kili protested. "They're good for eyesight!"

The medic winced. "A most dense vegetable. Greens would have been better." He called out something quickly in his elven language. His assistant ran back inside. "Anything else?" He snapped at the two brothers.

"No." Snapped Kili, looking greener than ever.

Fili sighed deeply, looking up at the sky. "I snitched a roast duck, some wine, couldn't find any ale. Jerky. Bread. Butter. Pickled beets. Half a roast ..."

The medic swore as his eyes closed in resignation.

"I only ate half that roast. Half of a half." Kili shook his head.

"Some kind of relish with apples and other fruits. Cheese." He stopped, thinking a moment. The elves watched him sadly. "Oh, and some pears. I think ...oh, there was a sweet custard too."

"Nothing else." Sarcasm dripped from Allinier's voice.

Fili shrugged helplessly. "Gravy."

"Damnable dwarf!" The medic's lips thinned as he stared at his charges.

Tauriel swore roundly, making the medic pale just as the assistant ran back toward them carrying a large jug. "I have the medicine."

"This will help him feel better?" Fili asked hopefully.

"Yes, give me the cup." Allinier held out a hand to his assistant.

Kili, embarrassed beyond measure, cursed roundly. "Well this 'damned dwarf' doesn't need a stupid cup." He grabbed the jug and pulled the cork loose, chugging down at least a quarter of the contents.

The elves all stared, their mouths agape.

"How much does he need to take?" Fili asked anxiously.

Kili groaned and stuck out his tongue. "This tastes like troll dung."

The medic sighed and held out a very small cup, staring at it sadly. "This amount. He needed this amount."

Kili smiled then. "Good, it tasted terrible. Now I'm done."

"Done in." Muttered the medic's assitant, looking uneasy. "Come with me."

"Where?" Kili moaned.

Allinier shook his head, an odd look on his face. "The lavatory." He cocked his head to one side and shrugged. "You are going to be one very unhappy dwarf in about an hour." Then he looked down at his cup. "Or sooner, considering the dose you just took."

The assistant chuckled. "Just deserts. For not following the diet plan."

Kili snarled, his stomach already rumbling. "You should have told me why I couldn't eat."

"WE DID!" Each elf then looked from one to another.

Only the sound of Kili's stomach turning over made everyone start to move.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Three in the morning is not the most romantic time. Standing over someone you cared about while he groaned, curled up in a fetal position, was also not terribly romantic.

"Please kill me." Kili moaned.

Tauriel wiped his forehead tenderly. "No, thank you. You tried to do that to yourself all on your own."

The dwarf sighed unhappily.

"You need another bath." She teased. "If you want, I can finish drowning you."

"Please. Yes."

Tauriel ran one hand down his cheek, letting her fingers absorb the bristly feel of his face and the hair there.

"I can never eat salt pork again." His voice sounded hoarse and weak.

Tauriel smiled gently. "Or potatoes. Roast duck. Beef. Beets. And let's not forget the carrots."

"Please let us forget the carrots." The dwarf moaned, turning his face into his pillow.

The red head leaned in, putting her chin on his shoulder. "If it helps, I think the worse is over."

"I think I died two hours ago." He whimpered.

"Why are you always in bed when I see you?" The she-elf mused. "Or prison?"

He gave her a bleary look. "You're the one who put me in that prison." Kili pointed out.

"I'll put you in one again if I need to keep you from doing something like this." She threatened without heat.

Kili rolled onto his back, his color pale but at least no longer green. "What was today about?"

Tauriel's eyes sparkled. "You are not up for the answer tonight."

"Will you kiss me again?"

The red-head's eyes widened. "Not tonight I won't. I saw what came out of your mouth."

Kili sighed. "I meant ever, not tonight in particular."

"Yes."

His eyes sharpened and he stared at her. She turned to the bedside table to dip a cloth in a shallow bowl of clear, cold water. His breath caught as he spied his silver hair clasp holding back some of her long silken hair.

"Why?"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Legolas was up before the sun. Mostly because he hadn't slept all night. Furious, he had not meant to pass by HIS door. Five times. The blond headed one was asleep in a chair. The medic came and went.

She stayed in that room. All night.

"Aren't you going in?"

Badly startled, Legolas steeled himself not to show his surprise. It seems the brother wasn't asleep after all.

"No." His one word answer was sharp and clipped.

Fili yawned and scratched his beard. "What was all that business about yesterday?"

"You're the idiot who fed your equally asinine brother when his digestive system was still trying to repair itself. He was medicated to keep everything moving slowly to rebuild what was damaged. Then you two tried your utmost to kill him all over again." Legolas told himself he didn't have time for fools.

"Not that business. The other." Fili watched the blond prince sharply. "The one you don't like."

The medic's assistant had been turning the corner, when he heard that question he stopped still. Afraid to move, afraid to call attention to himself.

"I don't like you." Legolas said bluntly.

"I don't like you." Rejoined Fili. "Doesn't answer the question."

Legolas turned to face the young dwarf warrior and sneered. "They're courting." He threw the words at the blond.

They hit their mark. Fili's eyes widened in shock. "Kili? My little brother. And an ELF?"

"I thought he was older." Lied the prince. "Being so much taller."

Fili jumped to his feet, cursing as his leg nearly buckled under him. He cursed his weakness even further. Limping, he made it to the door of his brother's room and peered inside. His breath caught.

Tauriel, sitting beside his clearly besotted brother, their faces close together. Talking. Smiling. Fili shut the door in shock. How had he missed this?

Legolas sneered, but what he might have said next was lost forever as a noise in the main hallway had both males turning.

"Morn'n. Morn'n." Bofur and Oin walked toward them. "Sorry we are to be late like'n we are. Unexpected tidings and all."

Fili gave the two dwarves a weak and bleary smile. "What tidings?"

"Me." Came the robust and rich voice of the dwarven matron. "It's good to see you, son."

"Mam!" Fili looked shocked, stunned, and delighted.

Dis smiled happily.

Legolas stared. "That's your mother? She has a longer beard than you do!"

"Flattery is an empty art, my fine elf lord." Dis dismissed the prince out of hand. "But I thank you."

Having meant to be insulting, Legolas appeared temporarily nonplussed.

"Surprised we are to find you awake. Thought you'n were still convel ...conveles ...getting better?" Bofur said around the pipe in between his lips.

"I come with news and tidings." Dis said nodding solemnly. "Is your brother still awake?"

Fili, at a loss, just nodded. "He was last I peeked in." Then he remembered what he'd seen in that room and he paled. Their mother was very protective of Kili especially, being the youngest.

Legolas stared at the impressively solid looking female dwarf and suddenly smiled. He gestured toward's Kili's door.

Dis stared at him a moment, and then looked at Fili. Legolas too looked at Fili over the dwarven dam's head. He shrugged at the blond, as if to tell him it was his call.

"He's awake mam." Fili said, chewing his bottom lip. Well, what of it? It WAS the truth.

Uneasy, sensing strange undercurrents, Dis put her hand on the door. She looked to Bofur and Oin. Both dwarves seemed as lost as she did. She stuck out her jaw and opened the door, walking inside.

Fili winced. Legolas smiled.

Dis walked out and shut the door behind her, looking shocked. "Why is there an elf, cuddled up in bed with my baby?"

Bofur blinked, shocked. "Er ... pretty red hair?" He guessed.

Oin nodded. "Green eyes?"

"Couldn't see her eyes." Dis snarled.

Bofur nodded happily. "Tauriel. She saved his life. Twice."

Dis' anger evaporated into wonder. She looked at Fili who smiled weakly at her. "Still and all, it's hardly seemly."

The elf who served as an assistant to Allinier stepped in, nervously trying not to look in the direction of his prince. "They became hand-fasted just this afternoon."

"Hand-fasted?" Dis looked utterly appalled.

The elf nodded. "I don't know the dwarven equivilent. To the world of men, they're engaged. Or not really, it's basically married but only on a trial basis. So, not really married. Oh dear, it's hard to explain."

Dis growled loudly. "He is only a BABY!"

Bofur winced. "Uhm, no. Seventy two, begging your pardon. He's technically not a minor."

Dis' face hardened with anger, her hands curling into fists.

The elf frowned. "If it helps, I'm not entirely sure he knows if he is hand-fasted."

"Oh really." Dis turned back toward the bedroom door, throwing it open with a loud bang.

For the first time since yesterday afternoon, Legolas' mood improved.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

A/N UH OH! H**ope you are enjoying!**


	5. Objections

"Hmm. the choices here'n." Bofur stroked the stem of his pipe and gave a nervous laugh. "Face a fire breathing dragon, rampaging orcs, or Dis in a temper?"

Oin nodded and shook his head, taking the decorative hearing horn out of his ear. "My choice? Not to hear what comes next." He smiled at the group in general.

Fili shrugged. "Having faced all three in my life, I'll take a pass." He looked at the closed door behind which his mother and brother lay. And a certain she-elf. "Tauriel can take care of herself." He muttered. "Maybe."

Legolas gave them each a look of disgust and turned away, clasping his hands behind his back. Pretending not to listen. Or care.

The elven medical assistant looked curiously around the group. "Dragon." He supplied with a smile.

Suprised, Fili shot him a quick look.

The elf shrugged. "Someone's already killed it."

"Ah hah!" Bofur nodded sagely. "Wise choice, wise choice. But ...uhm, someone should go in there and remind Dis."

Oin just smiled vaguely and nodded, shrugging while he shook his head to show he hadn't heard a thing.

Bofur looked at the two elves, one who smiled politely at him and the other a prince bent on ignoring them all. His eyes turned to Fili. He smiled broadly. "Well'n she be your mother, lad."

Fili's eyes turned sad and suddenly he shifted his weight to his right, drawing up his left heel slightly. "I'm injured. And I don't know what it is you need to be reminding my mam about."

Bofur huffed and pulled on his pipe silently for a second, letting out a few wisps of fragrant smoke. "And the other'n be your baby brother. You remember him? Poor Kili, him'n needing some help about now."

"Injured. So weak." Fili's voice sounded thin as he coughed and hacked for a moment.

Bofur sighed. "It was Kili's lung that got run through, not your'n."

Fili shrugged helplessly. "Hmm ...but really I don't know what it is I need to be reminding her of in the first place. You do."

"Oh please." Legolas muttered, still standing with his back to them and his hands clasped behind him.

Bofur smiled happily. "Seems the elf prince just volunteered."

Legolas turned his head, staring haughtily at the dwarf and Bofur sighed unhappily this time. "And he just'n unvolunteered."

"Grand evening, grand evening." Oin smiled beatifically around the group, winking at Fili and looking so utterly relaxed.

Fili winked at Bofur and stroked the beads attached to one side of his mustache. "I volunteer Oin."

"Seconded." Bofur agreed quickly.

Legolas sighed. The elf medic looked back and forth between them all. "I don't know if all of this is actually warrented. The lady dwarf has been inside the room for several minutes now and I hear no sounds of temper."

Shocked, Bofur and Fili's eyes went wide and the older dwarf's pipe nearly slipped from his suddenly lax lips. Both bolted for the bedroom door, their shoulders interfering with each other for a moment before Bofur threw open the door while Fili rushed inside.

Knives were drawn and at each other's throats. Kili was sitting up in bed, looking ill and afraid to make a sound. His dark eyes met Fili's gaze. Both turned to stare at the ladies.

Besides the two weapons aimed at each other's throats, both ladies sported a second blade as well. Dis' wicked looking curved knife was currently threatening Tauriel's belly. While the she-elf held a razor sharp blade at Dis' left eye. Neither was speaking.

Bofur let out a lusty sigh of relief. "No blood. Yet. Good'n. Ladies, ladies."

"The only reason she is still alive is that Kili is alive." Dis' voice sounded calm, way too calm for someone with immenent death literally staring her in the eye. "Seems I owe you for his life."

Suprised, Tauriel blinked slowly. "The only reason you live is that Kili asked me not to hurt you when you barged in here. I'm not even sure who this dwarf is."

"She's my mother." Kili winced, lowering his hands to the bed. "Mam?"

Tauriel's eyebrow rose quietly, the only sign of her surprise at the identity, and gender, of the bearded dwarf.

"Baby." Dis didn't look at her youngest, still holding her attention on the taller she-elf in front of her.

Tauriel smiled without any warmth, a warning rather than an indicator of mirth. "Seems she objects to something. And I don't think it's you, Kili."

Dis shrugged, not backing off even slightly. "No. I object to elven women marrying my son without my permission, or his knowledge."

Kili blinked three times in rapid succession. Fili shrugged helplessly at his little brother. "Married?" The younger of the two brothers mouthed the word in shock.

Tauriel considered the dwarf matron carefully, then stepped back for a moment, nodding her head very, very slightly. "Understandable."

Dis glared at the red-headed elf and lowered her blade in a gesture. "Explanations?"

Kili looked back and forth between the two most important women in his young life. His head was spinning. And his stomach. "Married?"

"Handfasted." Tauriel corrected blithely. "Not married."

Dis' eyes narrowed once more, her teeth bared with menace. "Did he know?"

Tauriel shrugged and then shook her head. "No." She admitted. "I was going to explain it, but he and Fili had to go and rummage through the pantry."

Dis' blade rose as she snarled at the red-head. The she-elf raised her own blades in instant response.

Helplessly, Fili watched this and turned to gauge his brother's reaction, he groaned when he saw Kili's face. "He's turning green again."

"Married?" The dark haired, dark-eyed dwarf swallowed hard and shook his head, as if that might shake loose the word from his brain. "Married?"

"Handfasted." Bofur shrugged. "Not sure what that'n is, but ...laddie? Laddie? Oh, oh, I think we're'n about to lose Kili."

Quicker than the eye could follow, Tauriel spinned, her foot kicked Dis' arm toward the wall. Her sharp and lethal blade pierced the rich fabric of her opponent's sleeve as she embedded it into the fine wood. Pinning Dis' sleeve to the wall as the dwarven matron cursed, Tauriel turned to the bed, and Kili.

Weak, and with his gorge rising, Tauriel helped him lean over the basin situated next to the bed. She gently pulled his hair out of the way and helped support his torso as Kili fought to catch his breath and to hold onto his stomach. Despite some gagging, nothing was left to produce, his system having already having been purged.

"Baby?" Dis was suddenly in front of her son, kneeling down beside him. Her worried eyes met Tauriel's green-eyed gaze.

The she-elf explained briefly what had happened earlier and Dis' mouth tightened with further temper. "So that's what ye meant about raiding the pantry." She sighed heavily.

"Mam, it wasn't Tauriel's fault." Fili tried to sound smooth.

"No. It was yours laddie." Bofur pointed out without sympathy. "Giving your brother that meal when the medics clearly explained why he couldn't have it and all."

"They're starving us!" Fil protested. "I've lost nearly 20 pounds, and Kili ...poor Kili."

Dis frowned, and so did Tauriel. Their eyes met once more, this time not nearly as advasaries.

"I see this is where the party is at." The friendly voice drew every eye as Gandalf stood framed in the doorway. Next to him was a hobbit.

Weakly, his pace pale, Kili smiled at the welcome newcomer. "Bilbo."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"I'm on my way to the Shire, escorting Bilbo back to Bag's End." The wizard explained kindly.

Fili sipped his juice, wishing it were ale instead. Bofur puffed away on his pipe and Oin had his hearing horn back out.

Dis and Tauriel sat on either side of a pale-looking Kili. His mother with her arm around his shoulders, and the she-elf holding his hand. They were no longer brandishing weapons at one another, but hostile looks still came and went fairly regularly. At least Kili had stopped muttering at last.

Bilbo looked back and forth between the two brothers, clearly worried. "You said you are healing?" His voice showed he wasn't sure about that.

Fili lifted his juice in an imitation of a salute. "Against our will at times, it seems." He peered at the hobbit most fondly. "I'm glad to hear that you and Thorin came around at the end. Most troublesome business."

"i'm sorry about your uncle." The hobbit hurriedly looked at Dis, "and your brother."

The dwarven matron nodded sagely. "You were a good friend to him, from what I hear. The business with the arkenstone ..." She sighed. "Well, it is what it is. I saw first hand how my grandfather fell under the spell of gold. I'm glad I didn't see Thorin in that way, and that he left this world having returned to his friends and not the cold comforts of metal."

Hesitantly, Bilbo bobbed his head, his sadness at the passing of Thorin Oakenshield obviously genuine. And heart-felt. But then the hobbit shook his head and looked at the elf standing next to the doorway, the one who assisted the head medic. "They look too thin."

"Agreed!" Fili groaned, draining the remainder of his juice. "But Kili, well ...the orcs did their damndest to open him up like a pig. It's no wonder he's dropped weight."

Kili made a face, but didn't dispute the comments.

"Nothing but skin and bones, the lot of you." Dis grumbled.

The elf nodded and then shook his head slightly. "We have worried on it." He admitted almost reluctantly. "Allinier had us searching the archives on nutrition for dwarves. We think it has to do with the infection that young Fili has been fighting off, and the inability of Kili's body to digest things well enough yet. Once his digestive system is healed, he should begin to put some needed weight back on."

Everyone nodded, accepting that. Everyone except a curious little hobbit. "Oh, well, okay then, but ...what archives?"

Attention arrested, Gandalf paused with his pipe half-way from his lips. He thought about it for a long moment. "The wood elves and dwarves have had no real contact in over a century. And before that the dwarves relied almost exclusively upon their own healers in Erebor."

"So, what archives?" Bilbo asked in his gently inquisitive manner.

Legolas made a gesture toward the elven medic. "Fetch the archive in question." The prince ordered. "I assure you, our healers are the best."

"I've heard miracles about your healers." Dis allowed generously. "Or I would not have sent you my two sons on their deathbeds. I just didn't expect one of them to trick my baby into getting married."

"Handfasted." Tauriel sounded snippy. "Not married."

Kili looked up at her, about to ask the difference. But when she looked into his face, all he could see was her concern, and care. For him. He lost his words in sudden wonder. His dark eyes traced the line of her cheek to the gentle slope of her neck and he sighed most happily. His fingers tightened on hers, as if afraid it was only an illness induced vision, and not reality. "You're really here." He whispered.

Dis nearly choked as she saw the tender looks shared between the two. Her arm tightened around her son's shoulders, pulling him forceably away from the she-elf and into her hug. "You're too young for marriage." She said matter-of-factly, and with great authority.

Gandalf smiled gently. "An elven handfasting is not the same. Yes, they live as if married but both can walk away without claim at any time in the next ten years. It's a prolonged courtship, to test the waters so to speak. Unless they become with child, then it becomes a marriage automatically."

"Mam." Kili protested, deeply embarrassed. He shrugged off her arm. "I'm not a child."

"If you were an elf you would be considered a minor. Barely seventy." Dis protested.

Fili grinned widely. "But we're not elves, mam. Too much hair, in the wrong places." He raised he and Tauriel's joined hands to the side of his face, placing her palm on the curve of his cheek. Sweetly, she cupped his jaw and ran her fingers over the short beard growth there.

Legolas sneered and turned away, clearly appalled.

Dis' jaw tightened and she jerked on Kili's arm, pulling him to her side. The dark-haired dwarf resisted, but he was still weak and his mother ...well, she was still his mother. Unable to bring himself to strike her he sighed. "I'm grown, mam. I mean I went on this quest with Thorin and all. Gimli didn't come because he wasn't old enough, but I did."

"And there is barely ten years between the two of you." Dis protested sharply, but with a sinking feeling that she was losing this particular argument.

"Fili got engaged when he was my age." Kili pointed out.

Dis' eyes snapped with temper. "Engaged, not married."

Tauriel smiled and reached out, running her hand down Kili's shoulder.

"Stop that!" Dis exclaimed. Only no one stopped.

Kili's head was turned toward his personal star, and her hand moved to his chin. Tauriel leaned toward him, and he met her halfway. Bending down, their foreheads touched as both closed their eyes, just breathing in the presence of the other.

Dis sighed heavily. "Well. Damn it all. So that's that then."

Gandalf chuckled and raised his pipe to her in salute while Bilbo looked uncomfortable, and yet smiling.

A rap on the door had them all looking up. Allinier, the head medic among the elves, entered the room with his assistant following closely behind. The younger elf carried a dusty tome, thick with vellum and the smell of something molding. He bowed to his prince. "My liege. There is a question about the care the young dwarves are receiving?"

"No." The proud elven prince looked down his nose at Kili. "I have no questions."

Quietly Bilbo raised his hand, hesitated and put it down again. He thought it over a moment and raised his hand again, but only half-way before lowering his arm again. Thoughts flew over his expressive face and then his jaw firmed. This time when his hand went up, it stayed up. "I have a question. Both Kili and Fili look partly starved." On the last word his voice sounded lost. Starving was a nightmare death, to a hobbit. "Perhaps more meals, small ones, but more of them ...throughout ...er, that is ...well, maybe if they had a bit more?"

Fili nodded, pointing at the quiet little halfling.

Allinier sighed and shrugged. "At banquets in the past, before the dragon, if we shared a meal the food intake wasn't regulated. We served, or they served, all ate their fill. I myself was never at these meals, however. But both Kili and Fili were gravely injured. We had to refer to a much older tome detailing what is healthy nutrition for dwarves."

Gandalf made a come-hither gesture to the medic's assistant. The elf looked to Legolas, who made no objection. He brought the ancient tome over to the grey wizard, bowing. He helpfully opened the book with a woven silk bookmark. "Here. We've been quite diligent. You see on this side is the dwarvish language, and here is the elvish translation on this side."

Oin came over and peered around the wizard as both men looked at the inscribed words. He shook his head and shrugged, pointing at the old dwarvish words. "Seems clear enough. And reasonable. Entirely correct."

"About the same as what we would serve ourselves, if slightly more." Allinier agreed.

Gandalf paused and shook his head slowly. "No, I've known dwarves who have eaten three times as much as an elf. Each meal."

Bofur snickered. "Bombur doesn't count."

The grey wizard chuckled most fondly. "No, Bombur counts as at least two dwarves in one. Perhaps three."

Oin, listening through his hearing horn, shrugged. "True, true. But this amount of food per meal seems reasonable." He pointed at the dwarvish side of the manuscript, being unable to read the translated portion.

Allinier froze in mid-nod. His eyes widened. "Per meal?"

Gandalf peered more closely at the words on each side of the page. "Oh dear. Small mistranslation. This is a nutrition list, per meal ...not day."

Fili's eyes widened with shock, he looked toward Kili whose mouth dropped. "I knew they were starving us!" The older brother crowed.

Legolas' expression was unreadable, but Tauriel looked appalled.

"Fine way to start a marriage, starving your husband." Dis smiled smuggly.

The red-head tightened her jaw. "Handfasted."

"And he can walk away at any moment. Any moment." Dis said coolly, reaching over to tug on her son's ear.

Kili looked up at his mother, his eyes bright. "Win!"

Dis smiled brightly in triumph, ony to lose her smile as he turned to Tauriel and grabbed her hands. "What should I eat first? Roast? Venison? Fish? Liver?"

Tauriel shook her head at him, horrified that they had indeed not been feeding the healing dwarves enough. But Kili's guts were still clearly in need of time to heal. "Carrots?"

Kili clamped a hand over his mouth in protest. "Not carrots. Evil, evil elf." His words did not match the tender fondness in his voice.

Gandalf watched without speaking, seeing the hurt in Dis' eyes as she saw him turn to another in his life. Another woman, not his mother. He glanced at Oin, who was looking anywhere but at the threesome. Bofur caught his eye, and the other dwarf shrugged helplessly.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"This is NOT fair!" Kili sulked, watching his older brother devour a roasted quail. His third. The heady aroma of the herbs and crispy skin made his mouth water.

Tauriel bit her lower lip, "You nearly tore out your digestive system today, and you are still trying to heal." She looked up at the others in the room. "Why do we have to have them eat together like this, it's cruel."

Dis sighed, rubbing one hand over her face. "My fault. I came with a delegation of dwarves."

"Bofur and Oin." Tauriel acknowledged the two older dwarven males.

The dwarf matron shook her head. "King Dain, well he sent a delegation here to confur with King Thranduil. That Bard will also be arriving soon. That's why that Prince Legolas had to go join his father."

Fili put down the quail bone in his hand, staring at his mother. "Here?"

"Here." Dis nodded. "Best way to show that the elves have nothing to hide. But of course, they do. The two of you."

"Men and dwarves are everywhere these days." Gandalf sighed. "Cleaning up the damage from the battles, as well as the dragon. We need a good smuggler to get the two of you away. Unfortunately, the best smuggler around ..."

"is someone we need to hide you two from." Bofur ended the sentence for the taller wizard.

Kili frowned down at his rice porridge. Sure there was more of it, but it still tasted bland. "We weren't on bad terms with Bard. Thorin, well ...that's different. Me and Fili liked him."

Dis nodded slowly, as Gandalf continued. "But Bard and Dain have come to some treaties and understanding. It might be best to let you two stay 'dead' as it were. Which brings us to why the two of you need to keep it quiet while the delegation visits. And not go out and about to risk being seen."

"And why they have to stay in the same general area?" Tauriel frowned over at Fili's nearly empty plate, and then back at Kili who was watching his brother eat with near desperation.

"It would look strange if too much is off-limits to the guests." Dis sighed unhappily. "We need to act as if ...well, as if we have nothing to hide."

"Like two living heirs that could take the throne from Dain." Bofur said with a sniff.

"Maybe Dain would ..." Kili looked up hopefully. "I mean, he never seemed like a bad sort when Thorin talked about him."

Dis looked at her son sadly. "Dain told me himself that he sat with your bodies, singing you into the Halls of the Fallen personally. Sat with your bodies. Filled your tombs with gold and tribute for you both since he has named you 'heroes'."

The implications sank in as each and everyone fell into silence.

Fili balled up his fist, slamming it down on the table, making the plates jump alarmingly. "Bastard."

Dis smiled weakly. "No use throwing aspirations on Dain's parents, they were nice enough. And Dain is ...a dwarven king."

"I wouldn't have been like that." Fili snarled, with his brother nodding in agreement. "I would have been a good king."

Dis looked away.

"Mam?" Kili looked affronted, while Fili stared.

Dis shrugged, her eyes sad. "You two weren't born in Erebor. Weren't raised as true princes, not really. Thrall was already dead. My father ...lost to us. Thorin. Thorin loved you two, raised you after your da passed. He led you to love Erebor, but you loved him more. You loved the throne ...for him, not for yourselves." She looked at her children and sighed helplessly. "Thorin would have married and produced an heir. And you two would have been loyal to your Uncle's son. But Thorin never raised you to truly think the throne belonged to you."

Kili swallowed hard, nearly choking on the harsh truths. A hand settled on his. A hand with creamy, star-kissed skin and elegantly long fingers. So different from his own hand with thick fingers, and a dusting of dark hair. He turned his palm over, her fingers traced skin there. Her fingers entwined his as she smiled at him.

"I was going to tell you." She whispered.

Kili knew she meant about the handfasting, not the dwarven politics. He nodded, smiling ruefully. "So, why would you want to join yourself to a dwarf prince without a title, a throne, a cent to his name. I'm not even able to eat."

Tauriel smiled gently and leaned in close to him, bending to rest her forehead on his. "I ..."

"That's a good question." Dis interrupted. "A very good question."

"Mam. Leave them alone." Fili suddenly sounded tired, very tired. "I guess my engagement is off?"

Bofur winced. "Since you're dead, and she being distantly related to Dain's wife? Yeah, I'd assume that too."

Tauriel looked up, stricken with sadness at this new loss. "Oh, I'm so sorry ..."

"Best news of the day so far." Fili gave a half-grin, then a chuckle.

Tauriel's sympathy choked on itself as she swallowed her words of condolence. Kili laughed, his own mood rising. "Oh dear." She murmured.

Dis gave her a snarky look. "These two aren't always the easiest. You best be sure you want to be involved ..."

The she-elf smiled, making the dwarven matron still. The smile wasn't nice or pretty, it held a wealth of self-confidence and strength, as well as something deeper. "I'm already involved. Ever since a certain dwarf told me a story about the firemoon."

"I thought it was during the battle with the spiders." Kili objected.

"No, not then." Tauriel gave him a tender look.

"Or when I told you about my promise ..." His voice trailed off with a wink and a smile.

"Not then." She leaned in closer to him. "It was your voice, the wonder of your voice as you shared about the firemoon."

Dis watched the two with wide eyes, then looked at Bofur who shrugged. "I think that was when we was imprisoned."

"Imprisoned?" Dis sounded unsure, and a bit alarmed. "Who imprisoned you?"

"That would have been me." Tauriel looked up, her green eyes clear and unbowed.

Dis growled.

"Right after she saved my skin from the giant man-eating spiders." Kili rushed in to reassure his mother. "She saved my life again after I was poisoned by an arrow from an Orc while escaping."

"Escaping from a prison? An elvish prison?" Dis' words dripped with rising temper.

Bofur looked around the group and then nodded at Gandalf and Oin. "No one has died and the sun is rising. You owe me, Oin."

The dwarven healer pretended not to hear, even going so far as to take the horn he used to help him hear better and shake it as if to clear it of debris.

Fili, his mouth full of potatoes, choked on his laughter.

Kili watched his brother sadly. "Can't I just have a taste?" He whimpered.

Tauriel scooped up some porridge. "I sweetened it with honey."

Kili shuddered. "But ...potatoes?"

The elf licked her lips and shrugged. "Carrots." It was a threat.

Kili paled and ate his porridge silently.

Dis looked around the room and sighed. How had life come to this? Her home was restored, a dream come true. But her beloved brother wasn't here to enjoy the victory. Her sons were 'dead' to her, and she'd not be able to see them much longer. Not for a while at least. And her baby was married, no that was handfasted ...to an elf of all things!

Everything stopped as Dis cursed loudly and stood, burying her knife blade in the table in front of her. They all stared and watched the blade shake a moment before stilling, embedded deeply into the wood.

Bofur gaped. "Wha?"

Gandalf took a moment and blew a perfect smoke ring. "It's hard letting go."

Dis grunted.

The wizard's voice was gentle, but resolute as he spoke. "My inestimable Dis, the day is beginning and the rest of the delegation might find it strange if you are not present during the initial meetings with King Thranduil."

The bearded dwarf matron looked clearly torn, not wanting to leave certain elves alone with her sons. Or at least one of them. "She comes too!" Snapped the angry mother, pointing at the rival for her son's attention. "I ain't leaving her here to sleep with my baby. This is not settled yet."

Kili, eyes wide, almost choked on his porridge.


	6. Heated

**Four Days Later:**

Fili grunted as he sat on the bench, pulling his left knee back as far as it would currently bend. "Now." He commanded.

Bofur, kneeling beside the younger dwarf, grabbed the ankle and shin and began to push with his not inconsiderable strength.

Fili's face went pale, but he made no sound of protest. Baring his teeth, he strained with the added impetus of Bofur's assistance. Slowly the knee strained, and bent several degrees more.

"Now?" Grunted Bofur as he pushed, his face turning red.

"No." Fili ground out the word, his own face showing the effort, and the pain involved.

Allinier watched closely, but didn't interfere. The medic nodded as the knee approached the normal limits of range of motion.

Finally Fili threw back his head and Bofur let go. Angry, the blond dwarf snarled. "Why did you stop?"

"Don't want to'n break the bone lad, not when you're doing so well." Bofur shook out his arms.

Allinier nodded his agreement. "You've made remarkable progress."

"Not enough." Groused the irrate dwarf.

Kili smiled from where he was watching. He dipped his spoon into a bowl as he spoke. "Looks good from here."

The older brother scowled over at Kili. "You should be over here working on your arm."

"I am working on my arm, and what did they call it? Oh, my fine motor skills." He held up the spoon with his right hand, the movement only a little awkward seeming. "Eating and working out. Yum!" He grinned engagingly.

Fili looked less than charmed.

"And I have more weight to re-gain than you do." Kili pointed out cheerfully.

Allinier, having already apologized most expressively for an elf, nodded without comment.

"Did Bilbo and Gandalf get away well enough?" Kili asked, poking at what was really bothering his brother with the unerring accuracy of a sibling.

Fili sneered and jumped up, putting his full weight on both legs. He groaned at the pain, but the leg did not buckle. "We should have gone with them."

"Where?" Kili pointed out, again. "The Shire is pretty enough, but there is no rock or mountain. No true forests. No ..."

"Fine!" Snapped Fili. "Fine. You made your point. Gandalf made his point. Bofur and Oin and even our mam made their point. But we don't belong here! And I hate being in hiding!"

And that was the main point. Kili sniffed in sympathy and then shrugged. "We'll figure it out."

Fili sighed heavily, leaning his weight more heavily onto his right leg and ignoring the pain. His anger seeped away as he slowly began to bend and straighten his knee, with more than half his weight on it. "I hate being hidden. Relying on the elves good graces and without a home, or a name of our own."

Allinier bowed lightly. "You are not a burden, and we count you and your brother as friends."

"You might." Kili grinned cheekily. "Legolas doesn't."

The elvin medic didn't answer the obvious, instead he turned and looked at the doorway. A moment later there came a soft knock, followed by the door opening. A certain red-headed she-elf looked inside.

Not having seen Tauriel in the past four days, Kili's grin turned silly with happiness. "I thought perhaps that the stars had grown jealous and had taken you up to live among them." He teased.

Tauriel's eyes scanned the room, but settled on a certain dark-haired dwarf. Her green eyes widened with alarm as she saw what he was doing.

Forestalling her protest, Kili cocked his head in the medic's direction. "I have permission." He waggled his spoon at her. "Bilbo even shared some hobbit recipes with the elves. Did you know you can make a sauce from apples?"

Tauriel gave him a curious look. "What do you put it over?"

Kili shook his head. "Naw. You eat it by itself. Not bad with some cinnamon. I'm even getting peas now." He leaned forward slightly and whispered. "They mush them into a soup and there is nothing to crunch, but it's a damned sight better than rice porridge."

Tauriel looked over at Allinier. "What's he eating that he shouldn't?"

Kili looked affronted and highly insulted.

The head medic gave a small smile. "Potatoes that have been mashed, with a beef gravy."

Kili suddenly became very interested in the fingernails on his left hand.

"Aspic jelly and flavored ice chips." Allinier continued.

Kili gave a fake yawn and looked away from everyone else.

"No carrots?" She teased.

Fili smiled at the face his younger brother made at the mention of the now hated vegetable. "He used to like carrots fine."

"Not since they tried to killl me." Muttered Kili, shuddering at the memory.

"May I speak with your brother?" She nodded at Fili, who looked surprised.

The blond dwarf shrugged and gave a small smile. "How did you get away from my dam?"

Tauriel answered his smile with a small one of her own. "I left her listening to King Thranduil's tales of the Seven Stars, while the king dismissed me to check on the guards."

"Which you've already done." Fili shook his head in admiration.

"Which I already did." She agreed, never having been one to shirk duty. Not even for pleasure. "Besides, one of Dain's lieutenant's asked about my hair clasp and I think everyone was afraid they'd ask why it looked familiar."

Fili's amusement faded as he looked at her silver hair clasp, one that exactly matched his own. The same one his brother Kili had gifted to the she-elf not quite a week ago. "I didn't think of that."

"Nor I." Tauriel nodded.

Bofur gestured toward Fili and the two made their way to the door. But the elder dwarf paused at the doorway, as they waited for Allinier to join them. "If Dis asks, you tossed us'n out at knife point."

"Of course." Tauriel nodded respectfully, even as Kili chuckled. Once alone, she made sure the door was shut.

Turning she looked at a chipper Kili. He waved at her and smiled. "I know you just want me alone to have your way with me." He teased.

"Yes." Tauriel said, watching him like a bird with prey.

Kili laughed, and when she didn't laugh with him, his smile slowly faded until there was nothing but heat in his eyes. "Really?"

"No."

"Damn it!" Kili sighed, "I should have known it was too good to be true!" He stabbed his spoon into his bowl and scraped out the last of his meal.

"You don't look nearly as green as you did the last time I saw you." She told him. 

Kili shrugged. "I'm getting more to eat, but they won't give me any meats at all. Maybe next week, maybe they'll let me try some fruit that's not been mushed up for babies. Maybe, maybe, maybe ..."

Tauriel walked across the room. That described what she did. But the reality was far more. The taller she-elf strode with grace, power and purpose. Dark eyes watched her with intense appreciation as she stopped in front of him, sliding down onto a low set of pillows meant for reclining.

His voice suddenly hoarse, Kili just had to ask. "Are you sure you don't want to have your way with me?"

Tauriel eyed him, loving the way his dark eyes caressed her without actually touching. How his breathing had sped up in anticipation. How he reached for the side of her face.

She leaned into his touch. Not feather light, nor silky smooth like an elf. His hands were blunt instruments, and they had seen hard work in the past. But he touched her as if she were precious and breakable. "I owe you an explanation."

Kili nodded, he had wondered about what she had done. "You went and married me?" He teased. "Excuse me, handfasted. So. Did I miss a step somewhere?"

"You're the one who asked if I could love you." She whispered.

Kili's eyes widened as he caught his breath. Weak, dying and poisoned he might have been. But he remembered her, and he remembered the question. But ... "I didn't think I'd asked that aloud."

Tauriel closed her eyes and leaned into the touch of his hand, rubbing her cheek gently against his palm. Kili leaned in closer to her, slowly raising his right arm and hand to cup the other side of her face. The arm worked, if more slowly and stiffly than he would have liked. Her eyes opened once more, only to find his dark eyes staring into her green-eyed gaze.

"You are starlight, moonlight, the entire heaven above. I'm used to rock and metal and coarser things. Why? Why even look down in my direction?" He asked, lost in the wonder of her skin against his hands.

She felt him rub his thumb along her jawline and she smiled. "Light is for nothing if it has nothing to reflect it, nothing to shine upon."

Kili leaned in and shocked her by kissing the tip of her nose, she drew back in surprise. He smiled. "No. That's far too poetic for me. Plain speaking please."

She gave him a curious look and then smiled enough to make him suspicious. "What is the difference between a meal of meat and a meal of a sauce with no crunch? Both nourish you."

"One is far more satisfying." Kili told her. "One sustains you far longer and builds you up far better." He shook his head at her. "It's not the same."

Tauriel met his gaze and shrugged lightly. "All I've known my whole life is things that don't sustain me, don't build me up, and don't have a good crunch."

Humor lit Kili's eyes and he laughed with delight and wonder. His laughter faded under the seriousness of her look. A look that told him that she meant every single word.

If Tauriel expected a sweet kiss to cap the sweet moment, she was sorely mistaken. The dark-haired dwarf, holding her face between his hands, leaned in and stole her heart away. His mouth found hers in a kiss far, far from sweet.

His tongue found hers as he tilted his head and pushed forward with strength, and a great deal of need. A surprised sound escaped her throat and she threw her arms around him to keep her balance. Heat bloomed between them with a fever bright need that shocked the she-elf completely.

Her hands moved to his chest to push him away and instead burrowed under the leather tunic he was wearing, shoving it as open as she could without actually undoing the buckles on the side.

He moaned and his mouth slipped from hers, but before she could protest he was burrowing into the crook of her neck. She gasped in utter and complete shock as his short beard rasped against the velvet softness of her skin. It was difficult to fully catch her breath.

Gasping for breath, it was a shock when she felt him pull back. And she was completely unprepared when he pushed her down further into the reclining pillows. His body settled next to hers, his face staring down into hers. "A few things." He muttered in a voice gone hoarse with want and need.

Tauriel stared up at him. "I am not a child, nor am I helpless." He waited and so she nodded in response.

Kili grunted with approval, and reaching down, undid the top clasp on her bodice. Her bosom swelled upward of it's own accord, as if begging to be touched. One blunt finger traced the line of skin showing down to the apex of her cleavage. It was shocking for Tauriel to realize that her cheeks were blooming with an actual blush.

"Yes, you saved my life. More than once." Kili leaned down slowly, smiling as she caught her breath in anticipation. But he stopped before bringing his lips to her skin. "But that doesn't put you in charge, not all the time anyway." He leaned down and slid his tongue under the line of cloth barely holding her bosom in place.

Hot, bothered, and not able to catch a full breath, Tauriel was still a warrior. She rolled, dragging a protesting dwarf with her until she was leaning over him. His tunic already loosened, she slid her hand under the leather to cover his heart. The hair on his chest was both soft and rough all at the same time, a heady texture that made her blood run faster. And hotter.

"I've fought many battles. Killed plenty."

"Me too." He protested weakly.

Her fingernails dug into the skin over his heart and Kili stilled. Tauriel continued. "Saved several lifes in my lifetime."

"How many did you marry?" He asked her, his hand rising and his finger hooking into the loosened fabric over her chest. He tugged experimentally. The next clasp popped open.

"Still not married." The red-head sighed, arching her back into his touch. "But I take your point. None." She shoved aside the leather and leaned in to kiss his newly bared chest. His chest hair tickled her nose.

Kili watched his lady-love draw back, wrinkling her nose adorably as she fought not to sneeze. Taking quick advantage, he rolled back the other way, once more putting her on the bottom.

"My point is, I'm not looking to be bossed around ..."

"Shut up." Tauriel hissed, reaching down and pulling open the rest of the clasps holding her bodice together.

Faced with the bounty before him, Kili's eyes nearly crossed. He leaned up to taste. "Yes ma'am."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Dis came downstairs in a raging temper. "Stupid, stupid males. Why do they insist on staying up drinking and gossiping like old women just when I want to get away the most?"

She turned toward the main door to the rooms her sons had been using. She paused as she spied Fili and Bofur playing chess together. Outside the room. "You two shouldn't be out here like that."

Then all the possible reasons why her son wasn't hidden away, and why her youngest child wasn't present, came to mind. Her hair nearly stood on end.

Pulling her blade, she reached for the door.


	7. Complications

**A/N: Uhm, yeah ...rating changed to M now. Citrus warning!**

**o.o.o.o.o**

"That's one way to lose Kili."

The words, and the flat tone, were a slap in the face. Dis growled down at her eldest while he looked down as if to study the chess board. Bofur tried to slink down into his chair and appear as invisible as possible.

"I'm trying to protect your brother." The irrate mother spat out the words.

Fili shook his blond head and finally looked back up at her. "You had me engaged at seventy. Why is he still too young at two years over that?"

Startled, Dis' temper abated slightly as she realized that Fili might be upset. "My boy, you were engaged to a fine dwarven maid of high standing. Not married off on a whim. And the wedding wasn't even to take place for another few more years."

"You made him promise to come back to you." Fili pointed out coolly. "You made me promise to look after him."

Dis' expression froze as she studied her oldest. "You're not nearly as reckless as your brother."

Bofur whistled tunelessly at that outright lie. Dis whacked him over the head. Sliding out of his chair to the ground, Bofur moved to the other side of the room, and apparant safety.

"You. You I could trust to follow Thorin and ..."

"Mam." Fili interrupted. "I know you love me, don't think I don't. But you forget, I was there when they brought word of da's death. I saw you clutching Kili. Your youngest, your baby. And don't think that I don't realize that except for the beard, he looks almost exactly like da. Trust me, back then, I held onto him too."

Dis' face melted as she moved to her son. "You're my first born, my rock."

Fili nodded, a smile teasing his expressive lips. "Mam, I know. I know you'd go to the ends of Middle Earth to protect me."

"I would." Dis agreed fervently, reaching forward to touch his cheek. "I don't love one son over another."

"No." Fili agreed, secure enough in his place within the family. He grinned. "But you refuse to see that Kili is no longer a baby. You fought against his coming with us. Thorin had to stand up for him. Just so he could come."

Dis snorted. "You know he had plans to follow you two if you managed to leave without him? Sneaking out like some bandit in the night."

Fili nodded and shrugged, it sounded just like his younger brother. "But mam, the point is ...he was ready to come along. Thorin found him strong enough. So do I. The more you hang onto him the more he's going to try and slip away."

Saddened, Dis turned and glared at the closed door before her. Finally she clicked her tongue a few times and shook her head. "That does not mean that I need to hand him over to some elven wench ..."

"Who sees his worth, finds him attractive ..." Fili interrupted.

Bofur scratched his impressive mustache and nodded. "Saved his'n life more than once."

"Is willing to leave her people to be with him." Fili finished lightly.

Shocked, Dis and Bofur both stared at him. "Oh come on." Fili continued. "Handfasted? Sounds permanent in the making, at least to me. But Tauriel has to know, we're not staying here."

Dis shook her head in denial. "No. If she is merely looking for a way out of here ..."

Bofur interrupted this time. "Why? She is a captain in the King's guard. Respected. Friendly with the king's son. This be her home. I don't think she'd be leaving it on a simple whim."

Fili stood up and smiled at his mother, taking her hand and giving it a tug. She resisted, but finally relented to the one-arm hug from her eldest child. "In other words, mam. Best be learning the elvish words for grandbabies."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili was wrapped around her pale form, his head tucked in next to her collarbone. His warm breath teased the tops of her breasts while one of his large hands spanned the bare skin above her abdomen, his fingers resting just under the curve of her bared breasts.

"My skin burns." She murmured in a soft tone that left no doubt that she was not actually complaining. "I didn't know that hair could be so rough."

Kili chuckled, his hot breath making her shiver in anticipation despite being completely satiated. "You bite." He teased.

She blushed slightly, pleased that when she'd given into her baser instincts he hadn't acted apalled or disgusted, not like some had in her past. "I don't think you have to worry about being bossed around." Tauriel's hand rose and traced a shivery line down his spine, drawing a moan of pleasure from deep within the drowsy-eyed dwarf.

Kili chuckled and swept his fingers up to capture one of her breasts again, running his calloused fingers over the sensative peak. "No?"

The red-head arched her back, pushing her flesh more firmly into his touch. What could she say? For someone who seemed so affable and mischevious, Kili was nothing less than dominant once unclothed. As weakened as he'd been recently, there was nothing tentative about his lovemaking. "I'll be sore for a week." She muttered happily.

Kili lowered his head and lazily lapped at what his fingers held captive, pulling a deep moan of pleasure and heat from his elven companion. His ... hmmm. "What do we call each other?"

Tauriel gasped for air once he let her nipple slip from his mouth. She shook her head and pulled him closer, despite there being no space between them in the first place. "Hmmm?"

"You're my wife? Not my wife? Almost my wife? My fiance maybe. My handfasted-ness?" Kili dipped his head down and began to feast again, his free hand moving over to the other breast, lest it start to feel neglected.

Tauriel's right knee drew up, pushing her heel into the soft pillow, arching herself up to him. "That isn't a word." She groaned, settling back down and rolling him onto his back. The red-head looked down at him as he grinned lasciviously up at her.

"My right hand is doing better." The dark-eyed dwarf teased her, letting his right hand tickle her hip, making her catch her breath as she moved away from his hand instinctively. Right into the path of his left hand, which captured the smooth column of her thigh and pulled her leg upward, making room for him down below.

Tauriel had a moment to realize that she'd been manipulated when his dark eyes closed with pleasure. And disappeared. Moaning heatedly, she caught her lower lip between her teeth as she supported her weight on two arms. While her dwarven lover slid down the soft pillows until his mouth opened heatedly on her belly button. And going lower.

Finding it hard to breathe, Tauriel's green eyes closed, only to open them wide in shock as he called to her from his sensual perch down below. "Are you sure this is allowed on my diet?"

An answer was not forthcoming, as the rasp of his beard on this most sensative skin had her swallowing her cries and burying her face in the pillows instead.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"I am NOT calling you that." Tauriel's voice sounded clipped as Fili, Dis and Bofur walked into the small garden the next morning.

Kili's laughter was full of dark promises, making his older brother's eyebrows raise in wonder.

"Husband isn't right. Fiance or bethrothed isn't quite right either, as handfasting is different." The dark-eyed dwarf teased her, looking far too cheerful. "Morning." He called to the newcomers.

Tauriel and Kili both looked up from their respective bows as they stood yards away from their targets. Hers was easy to pick out, being that the arrows were aligned in perfect symmetry.

His were generally in the right area, but in no particular area. Only two seemed to be right on the mark. Fili looked at his younger brother, making careful consideration of how Kili was shaking out his obviously fatigued right arm. "Looks good."

Kili's mood slipped and he frowned. "Don't patronize me, brother." It was clear that he wasn't happy with his own personal progress.

"You hit the mark twice." Dis spoke up, not bringing up the events of yesterday. Or her assumptions on how they'd spent the evening.

"I think by accident." Grumped Kili, relieved that his mother wasn't bringing up difficult subjects. "My ...Handmaiden here has been perfect with her own aim."

"And you will NOT call me that." Tauriel replied, slipping an arrow smoothly into her bow and firing before anyone could react. It struck in perfect alignment to the rest of her shots.

Kili looked at the arrow still quivering in the tree, and then back at his she-elf. He raised one eyebrow and with a returning smile. "My Starmaiden?"

The red-head sighed. "No."

Kili gave her a long, long look. Weighing carefully how he might say what was in his heart. "My love?"

Tauriel stared at him for a long moment, his eyes glued to hers. Uncomfortable, but pleased, she nodded.

Fili and Bofur stared at Dis, who closed her eyes as if in pain. But the dwarven matron let the comment go without speaking.

"You know what I want you to call me." Kili just had to push his luck.

Tauriel's green eyes lost their glow as she sighed. "No."

What happened next stunned every one of them. A giggle, the sound of running feet, a squeal of laughter and then a young girl ran into the clearing. She stopped short at the sight of them.

Who was more shocked, Tauriel couldn't say.

The human girl suddenly burst into wild tears and ran forward, throwing her arms around a badly startled Fili.

Dis had her blades out, but seemed unsure what to do about an underage girl. One currently babbling about how happy she was that Fili was still alive.

"Tilda?" Tauriel actually wasn't sure, the human female child currently had her face pressed into Fili's side. "Is she ..."

"Whoa." A male voice came next.

"Alone?" Finished Tauriel on a deep, heart-felt sigh. "No, she's not alone."

Bain stood at the edge of the clearing looking back and forth in shock between Kili and Fili. "You ...you're dead! Da spoke at your funerals!"

Dis carefully weighed her blade, looking at the children from the world of Men. Children who could spell disaster for her own two sons, and get them killed in a far more permanent manner. She stepped forward.

From nowhere, an arrow shaft buried itself in the ground in front of her foot. Dis looked up at Tauriel, furius. The elf, though, wasn't looking at her. With shock, Dis realized the arrow had come from another. "Kili?"

The youngest of the dwarves present shook his head at his mother. "No. Mam, just no."


	8. Goodbyes

"You should have let me just kill them." Dis grumbled, tightening the fasteners on the travel packs.

Kili ignored his mother as he finished the final touches on his own travel rations. He left it to Fili to explain, yet again.

"Mam. They're children. Children we are fond of." The older of the two brothers fought not to sigh or roll his expressive eyes. "Children we fought against orc and dragon to keep alive. We're not spilling their blood now."

Bofur grunted in agreement, his pipe bobbing along with his head as he nodded. "Aye'n not to mention but those children helped try and save our lives as well, especially Kili's when he was so'n sick."

Dis grumbled, and then gestured at a pair of elves who came in with several large bundles. "Over here." She then turned back and watched her children with worry. "If you just would have let me hold them hostage for a few hours, at least until you are away for good."

"Sorry way to thank a family for their generosity." Grumbled Kili, putting more force into lacing his boot than necessary. The lacing snapped in his large hands. Snarling he yanked at it until long elegant fingers touched his own.

Tauriel's sudden appearance from no where didn't startle Kili, instead, it settled him. Relieved to see her beautiful face, he smiled as she unlaced his boot and re-strung it with grace and efficiency. "You're here, love."

"Where else would I be?" She asked in a nearly haughty tone that was only spoiled by the hint of a smile.

Dis' stomach roiled and she grumbled under her breath for a moment before turning to the red-headed she elf tending to her youngest son. "Why? Why do you choose him over all others? I know his worth, but you ...you're an elf!"

"Why indeed." This time the voice was haughty and without smile, and it came from a certain blond elvish prince. Legolas. "You owe nothing to these beggars at our table."

Fili grimaced. "So much for elven hospitality."

Tauriel straightened and stared into the angry blue eyes of her oldest friend. One she might have thought she loved once, from afar of course, if not for a certain dark-eyed dwarf who'd exposed for her what love truly was. Heat. Need. Comfort. Desire, not just for touch but for a mere glimpse.

"He makes me wonder." Tauriel said slowly, her eyes on her prince. "He sees me and makes me feel beautiful. Makes me feel like there is something beyond just me, beyond this world, and beyond my understanding."

Legolas started to shake his head. But Tauriel held up one hand to silence him, and for a wonder, it worked. She continued, her voice softening. "He sees starlight in me. He sees what I am, but makes me want to be more. With him. He makes me feel alive. I don't have to pretend with him. I have never been more free in my entire life."

Dis's jaw tightened and she turned away, Bofur saw her eyes and didn't mention the suspicious moisture there.

Legolas swallowed with difficulty, his eyes narrowing. "You will outlive him." He pointed out ruthlessly. "You'll have what? Maybe 180 years or so? What is that to an elf?"

"And I already grieve." Tauriel said sadly, drawing a look from her dark-haired lover. "But I know that in those short years, I will live more and love more than I would in a thousand years spent here."

Legolas flinched back as if struck physically.

But the red-headed woodland elf wasn't done, not yet. "And I could have taken him for a lover, instead of handfasting with him. But I wanted, needed, to be closer. I want life beyond myself and I feel ...no, I know ...that there will be children. And in them my love will live on forever."

Bofur sighed and took out his soiled handkerchief, blotting his eyes. "Damn."

Fili looked down at his hands and for the first time since the brothers were in short clothes, he felt complete jealously of his younger sibling. Not for the girl, but for the way that someone looked at him. He wondered, if any female would ever think of him in that manner?

Legolas said not one word, he stared at his long-time friend and turned on his heels. Leaving. He stopped just before disappearing. Standing there, tall and proud and silent. Finally he spoke. "I will escort you to the end of the Mirkwood. From there, you are on your own."

Tauriel nodded her assent.

Dis shook her head. "They won't need ..."

"Accepted." Bofur interrupted rudely. "There'n still be pockets of orcs, and not to mention those spiders, out there. And those woods, they be ...dangerous." He shuddered at the memory.

Fili nodded, he too recalled the feeling of being lost in the woods that muddled the mind and chilled the bone.

Kili reached over and took Tauriel's hand, entwining the fingers. She looked down at the joined hands and smiled. Her green eyes travelled up the length of his arm, his right one, to his smirk. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned in for a long kiss. When she pulled back, the smirk was gone, replaced by a look of wonder and desire.

"My love." He whispered.

She answered in elvish. The words fluid and foreign to him. He cocked his head to the side in question. "What you wanted me to call you." She smiled as she teased him.

"Not fair, saying it all strange like that." Kili groused. "That's cheating!"

"My war hammer of dwarven design and make?" Dis looked puzzled.

Instant heat bloomed in Tauriel's face as she stared at Kili with wide eyes. "Your mother speaks elvish? Why didn't you tell me?"

Kili shrugged and looked embarrassed as Fili choked on nothing but air, struggling to catch his breath.

Bofur leaned into Dis. "It's sexual." He whispered, unfortunately, everyone could hear.

"KILI!" His mother shouted, appalled.

The young dwarf in question, instead of being abashed, grinned wider and shrugged. He winked at his mother, whose face went beet red. "It was supposed to be Dwarven War Hammer."

"That's harder to translate." Tauriel muttered, triple checking her weapons to keep from looking at the mother of her lover.

Dis sputtered for a long moment, then sighed deeply and grabbed Kili by the collar of his tunic, dragging him into her embrace. "Promise me."

"Mam?" Kili, more embarrassed now than he had been just moments ago, wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Don't come back. Be happy. Make ..." She swallowed hard. "Make a family and live long." She touched the side of his face with love and despair. "Hopefully I can travel in a few years and not have Dain grow suspicious. I will find you. But promise me, you and your brother won't come back here."

Kili bobbed his head, but that wasn't good enough. Dis grabbed both his ears and twisted sharply. "Ow! Mam! I promise, I promise!"

"Fili! Get over here!" Dis shouted, letting go of her youngest, but not yet turning to her oldest. When she did, she laughed. He was holding his hands over both ears protectively. She grabbed his rather long nose instead.

"Ow! Mam! I promise too!" Fili gave her a long look. Dis sniffled and grabbed him in a giant hug, squeezing until he about turned red in the face from lack of air.

Dis let go very reluctantly, her eyes moving back and forth between her children. She sniffed deeply and nodded. "You're not going alone and with nothing."

Fili nodded and looked to his younger brother, who bobbed his head as well.

Dis signalled to the two elves that had carried in a large bundle. At her wave, they uncovered the load.

Kili's eyes went wide. "My bow!" His gaze narrowed in on the dark wood and elegant lines immediately. "But ...how?"

Fili saw the chest, and knew it wasn't empty. "Mam?" His eyes were wide with wonder.

In answer, his mother drew several knives from her inner coat. Fili grinned sloppily as he saw they were his blades, designed by he himself and very lethal. "How?" He repeated his brother's question.

Dis looked saddened all of a sudden. "Dain said he buried your weapons with your bodies. Dawlin found these tossed in the armory with the orcish trash weapons."

Fili's jaw tightened and Kili let out a stream of profanity that drew a frown from his mother.

"I approached Dain."

Fili shook his head in amazement. "What if he'd offered to open our tombs and give us our weapons? He'd have seen we weren't dead."

Dis made a caustic face. "Naw. Dain wouldn't dare re-open so public a tomb. Not of good dwarvish heroes. He'd have to offer an explanation, king or no. Instead he offered me a portion of what would have been your shares of the treasure. Cheap bastard. To think I'd sell out your memories."

"You took it, mam. Right?" Kili nodded toward the large chests.

"Heavy with gold those are. But I won't keep one cent you paid for with your blood and pain. It's for you boys." Dis nodded at them, her voice going a bit hoarse with emotion. "Bargained for more than he offered, he would have been supsicious otherwise."

All the dwarven males nodded and chuckled, while the elves seemed lost at the idea of such avarice.

"We need to go." Tauriel interjected reluctantly, a sympathetic look in her eyes as she watched Kili's mother. "The children promised to not tell anyone they saw us. But they are children."

Dis sighed. "I wish you would have let me detain them."

"No, mam." Fili sighed and gave her a rough hug. Kili followed suit. But it was too short, and soon they were on their way.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"We could have carried the chests." Bofur looked over at the elves helping them along, as if not quite believing they had help.

Tauriel shrugged. "Just until the edge of the Mirkwood. Ponies will be waiting there for us then. It's all arranged."

Kili nodded silently. Not that he didn't have anything to say, but it was difficult keeping the pace and breathing with his still healing lung. And he didn't want to seem weak.

Fili was having his own problems. The farther they went, the more of a struggle his left leg gave him. At first he'd been trying to walk without a limp, now he was trying not to make noises with each step.

"We need a rest." Tauriel announced, then rolled her eyes as both brothers protested and exclaimed they didn't need a break.

"Fools." Legolas muttered, climbing a nearby tree to look out over the landscape.

Kili leaned heavily against another tree, his breathing labored and difficult. He shrugged off Tauriel's concern, embarrassed. But the she-elf was having none of that. She grabbed his chin and turned his head to look at her in the eyes.

Anger sparked in his dark eyes as he growled. She growled back down at him, startling him into a laugh. The mood broken, he smiled sheepishly. "You deserve better." He whispered.

From far way, Legolas snorted, his hearing excellent even for an elf. "Yes she does." He said cuttingly.

"I have my heart's desire." Tauriel smiled down at her shorter lover and leaned in, rubbing her silk-smooth cheek along the line of his bristly jaw. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips so as not to hinder his breathing. Kili took a deep breath, the first one without pain since they started out on this journey. "You are my heart."

From far away and standing in the tree, Legolas' jaw tightened.

Tauriel called up to the blond prince, ignoring his temper. "When were you going to tell them that we're being followed?"

"When I decided what to do about it." Legolas admitted with no inflection in his voice. "I like the man following us better than any dwarf."

Startled, Fili and Kili shot each other alarmed looks.

"Now that's good to hear." That man walked out of the underbrush, his bow held high, and aimed right at Fili's left eye.

Kili started forward, but was stopped by Tauriel's hand on his shoulder.

Fili smiled sadly. "So, the children told you."

Bard returned the smile, but his was far more predatory. "No. Tilda told Sigrid. Sigrid began crying all over again."

Fili shrugged and looked lost.

Bard sighed, letting his bow down so that the arrow pointed at the ground. "Tilda and Sigrid have cried for over a month over your deaths, the two of you. When I came back from initial greetings with King Thranduil, they were crying all over again."

"Sorry." Fili and Kili spoke together.

Bemused, Bard shrugged. "But this time they were grinning and holding onto each other and laughing. I couldn't get a word out of them. Bain was in the corner, he was smiling and looking disgusted at the girls' display all at the same time. Had to threaten, threaten my own son to get any kind of answer."

"What'd you threaten him with?" Kili asked, curious.

"Slop duty for six months." Bard made a face. "For the entire city of Dale."

Fili looked lost. Bofur cleared his throat. "World of Man stuff, he means latrine cleaning duty."

Both brothers immediately made faces in sympathy, nodding their appreciation of the threat.

Bofur was the one to come to the point. "So. Now you found us. Now what?"

Bard made a face and shrugged. "I don't understand the politics, I really don't. But I get that you have a good reason to be 'dead'. I'm assuming you don't want King Dain to know?"

Bofur shook his head, answering for all the dwarves.

"I owe him." Bard sighed. "But I owe you two as well. I'll keep your secret as long as you promise me you won't be coming back to try and claim his throne. Or raise an army against him."

"You and mam both." Muttered Fili. "We've already made this promise." He groused unhappily.

Bard nodded, and then named off some of the areas to avoid if they wanted to go unnoticed by Man or Dwarf patrols. Then he gestured for Fili to follow him a moment.

The blond dwarf shot a look at his brother and Kili nodded, he'd be watching his back. Fili moved over to the side of the clearing and looked up at Bard.

The Man wouldn't meet his eyes for a second and then took a deep breath. "You make any promises to my girl?"

Fili was utterly lost. "Tilda? Only that we wouldn't hurt her, asked her not to tell anyone she saw us."

Bard nodded and looked uncomfortable. "You could have hurt my kids."

"No we couldn't have." Fili's voice hardened.

The Man nodded in agreement and scratched the side of his face nervously. "And I thank you for that." He paused and then pushed ahead. "I mean Sigrid."

Now completely lost, Fili shrugged. "Didn't even see Sigrid."

Bard made a frown and shook his head. "Any romantic nonsense between you two that I don't know about?"

Fili spread his hands in surrender, to show he was unarmed, and completely taken by surprise. "What?"

The human father searched Fili's open expression suspiciously and then relaxed. "Just a girl's dreams then."

"Huh?" The young dwarf shook his head.

"Here." Bard stuck out a bright pink piece of cloth. "Sigrid wanted you to have this. For luck."

Fili took the square of pink silk, confused. "Is it enchanted?"

Bard chuckled. "Naw."

The dwarf held it up, turning it over and seeing Sigrid's monogram at one corner. "It's a signal of some kind."

The man choked and agreed. "A signal of interest. Which you will not return." He said with finality.

"Interest?" Fili was about to ask again, when his eyes widened almost comically.

Bard nodded. "You're getting there now lad. Like I said, the girls cried for a month at least."

"I didn't ...I mean, I wouldn't have ...I mean ..." Fili stumbled over his own tongue. "I didn't." He finally just ended there.

The archer, the killer of Smaug the Dragon, gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I owe you for that as well."

Fili watched Bard walk away, back to the main group. He saw his brother Kili give him a questioning look. But Fili was feeling too lost to answer. He shrugged and stuffed a pink square of silk into his jacket.

Sigrid? Sigrid? Really? Fili thought back to those chaotic days in Lake Town. He'd done nothing to call her interest, he was sure of it. And she was a pretty girl, for a human. But no beard and far too little bite. Still and all, it was a bit flattering. In an odd sort of way.

Suddenly he realized something important. He wasn't like his younger brother. He didn't want someone outside of their world. He wanted a dwarf maiden. A darrowdam. One who could take him on and with rosy cheeks and a broad laugh.

He'd not been looking forward to getting married before, not feeling like he'd been out in the world enough. Not seen or done nearly enough. And the dwarf maiden he'd been betrothed to had seemed more interested in politics than in him. Not to mention she'd had a very snorty laugh.

But now he knew that he wanted a female dwarf. And where he was going, wherever that was, he was unlikely to find what he wanted. Standing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by others, he had never felt more alone in his life.

Kili came up and knew immediately something was wrong. His face reflected instant concern. Fili shook his head, not wanting to leave this on his brother's shoulders. Not with a certain red-headed she-elf looking at them both. He was happy for his brother. Sincerely happy. Jealously happy perhaps.

"Bofur?" Bard was talking on the other side of the clearing. "How did you get leave from Dain? I thought you'd be ordered at his side, what with being one of the fourteen heroes of Erebor?"

The dwarf in question laughed and puffed at his pipe as he leaned lazily against a wooden stump. "I'm too injured to be of service."

Attention arrested, both Kili and Fili turned to stare at their long-time friend. Bofur looked the picture of health, rosy cheeks and all.

Bard seemed lost too, he chuckled and asked the obvious. "Injured, how?"

Bofur grinned and out of his jacket tugged a loop of cloth, he stuck his right arm through so that it rested against his ribs. "What good is a one-armed toy maker? Hmm?"

Bard rolled his eyes as both brothers began to laugh.

**o.o.o.o.o**

**A/N: Here comes the shameless call for reviews. Love to know what you think of the story so far. Yes, it does roam free from canon, but I hate the idea of losing Kili and Fili! **


	9. Scents

"Alrighty." Bofur looked out over the landscape, his eyes taking in the rolling hills liberally interspersed with wind chisled rocks. "Now'n what?"

Tauriel looked at Legolas and the other elves who had gotten the small group this far. Her hand tightened on the hilt of her sheathed blade.

Kili noticed her discomfort, but wasn't sure what to do, or say, that might help. He wanted to tell her she didn't have to come along, but his whole being rebelled at being that unselfless. He wanted her to come. With him. "Love?"

If the red-head heard him, she didn't react. She walked away from him. Right to Legolas. Kili's heart sped up. Fili walked up next to him, putting a brotherly arm around him. "She'll stand."

Kili shook his head and shrugged. "These are her people." He whispered. "This is her home."

Away from the dwarves, Legolas glanced back at the two brothers. Then his eyes moved to the elf standing in front of him. Secure in the knowledge that while he could hear what the brothers were saying, the return could not be said. Dwarven hearing was good, but elves were beyond excellence. His blue eyes found her green ones. "This IS your home."

Uncomfortable, the Silvan elf shook her head slightly. "It was once."

The blond prince let his jaw tighten, but if it was grief or anger she didn't know. "You were happy here."

Tauriel nodded without reluctance. Then she looked out over the territory awaiting her. Once more she looked back at Legolas, her friend. "I can't explain what you don't feel." She said cryptically. "I look out there and see a world that I have yet to discover. And I want to see it."

Legolas nodded carefully, too carefully. "You could, and still stay among us." He said, knowing that his father would not be for any of their kind exploring beyond their borders. Yet he had to try.

"No." The red head looked sad for a moment. "The world has been out there for 600 years. It will continue to be out there. But he ..."

"He will die." Legolas snapped, suddenly irate.

Tauriel's spine stiffened. "We all will pass, one day."

The blond turned away from her, looking back at the Mirkwood, back toward the homes of the Woodland elves. "I don't know that you would be welcomed back." His voice sounded lost.

"Yes, I would." Tauriel said with certainty. "But I won't come."

Blue eyes closed with pain, his face hidden from her sight. "Are dwarves that wonderful? They are greedy and stupid ..."

"Greedy?" She scoffed lightly. "He walks away from a throne, and a treasure."

"He has a treasure." Legolas whispered so softly, even she right next to him almost missed it.

Embarrassed, Tauriel didn't answer. Had he meant her? Was she the treasure mentioned? Surely not.

"At least he's tall, for a dwarf. Still ugly though." Legolas' voice hardened.

Tauriel shook her head slightly, her voice softening as she shot a glance at the dark-haired dwarf in question. "Not to me."

That softness in her voice sounded like a death knell to a certain blond Elvish prince. "I hate dwarves. And I always will."

"Never say that." Tauriel said slowly, wanting to reach for him to ease the hurt in his voice. But they had never had that kind of relationship. Maybe, once, if he hadn't been royalty and she hadn't been merely a Silven elf. But they were who they were. "One day, you might find they aren't as you see them."

Legolas shook his head, making a gesture to the other elves. They all moved off back into the woods. "I will never be friends with a dwarf."

Tauriel's head lowered as he walked away from her, walked away without looking back. But he stopped, at the edge of disappearing into the gloomy forest. "If things could have been different ..."

The red-headed she-elf felt the sadness down to the toes of her feet. "You will ever be my friend."

And if he wanted more? Legolas turned and gave her one last lingering look. Things weren't different. She was still Silvan. He was still a prince, and his father was a king who held these things to mean a lot. His blue eyes slid to a certain dark-haired figure and his heart hardened. His hand settled onto his own dagger while his fingers tingled, wanting to draw an arrow from it's quiver.

Then his attention moved to Tauriel. Had she moved? No. But the wind had caught the ends of her smooth red hair. He saw her eyes, looking back at him. Waiting. Could he be less than perfect? For her? With a sniff, and not a small amount of regret, the beautiful blond prince of the Woodland elves stepped back into the Mirkwood. Disappearing from sight.

Tauriel's breath stilled for a second. Would she ever again see her friend? Was he still her friend? So lost in her thoughts was she, that Kili stepped up next to her without her noticing.

He didn't clear his throat, or cough. He was simply there. Suddenly hyperaware, she felt rather than saw him look down at his boots. "A prince is a far better bet than an exiled and 'dead' former heir."

Poor Kili. He sounded like the words might strangle him. Tauriel couldn't help herself, she did something very un-elfin. She teased him. "You're right. I should go back."

A strangled sound of protest and panic had her turning to look at her lover. Dark eyes were wide with shock, eyebrows arching heavily as he shook his head in mute denial. "Well, if you don't mean it, don't say it." She chided gently.

Those same dark eyes narrowed suspiciously. She gave away nothing with her calm demeanor and expressionless face. Still, he must of seen something in her eyes for he suddenly relaxed and waved a hand at the departing elves. "If you think they're ..."

Tauriel caught his hand and brought it up to her cheek, running her silky smooth complexion over his still calloused fingers.

Kili lost his words and his thoughts as his attention span focused on that simple, yet highly charged, touch. Parts of his anatomy suddenly demanded a higher amount of his blood supply.

"You were saying?" She prompted him, her voice still gentle.

"Hmm?" The besotted dwarf murmured.

Tauriel smiled against his palm as she turned her head and placed a kiss just there. "You had some thoughts?"

Oh he had thoughts alright. Kili shifted his weight uncomfortably, his pants no longer roomy enough and with sudden clarity he remembered they weren't alone. "Damn it."

Fili and Bofur looked at each other and then busied themselves with the ponies, triple checking the bindings on their belongings needlessly. The blond dwarf looked over at Bofur and shrugged helplessly. "So. Where ARE we going then?"

Bofur pursed his lips and nodded absently. "Rush decision. We'un can go anywhere. Well, except Dale. Not there."

"Nor Erebor." Fili added with some asperity.

Bofur nodded with a bit more strength to the movement. "Oh, and not Lake Town. Not that there is a Lake Town anymore, but it'd be wise not to go out that way right yet."

"Blue Mountains are out."

"So are the Iron Hills."

"Oh, that goes without saying."

"Well, I said it anyway."

"Moria is out." Fili continued. "Going to be a lot of fighting out that way, what with Dawlin and Balin going to clear it of Orcs and Trolls."

"Goblins." Bofur agreed.

Fili grimaced. "Can't forget the goblins. Not with the way they stink."

Bofur paused to consider the question. "Oh? I thought'n that Trolls smelled way worse than goblins."

"Oh no." The blond dwarf shook his head with mock sadness. "I think the pipeweed has killed your smeller. Definitely goblins are worst. Except for Orcs."

"Right you are. Orcs are stinkers."

With that, Bofur and Fili fell silent and just looked at each other. Then the older of the two dwarfs smiled. "If'n we looked, do you think those two are still clothed?"

Reluctantly they turned at the same time, only to discover two fully grown individuals staring back at them. Tauriel looked haughty while Kili looked disgruntled. "Still clothed? Still clothed? What do you take us for?"

"Apparently a war hammer of dwarven make and design." Fili prompted with a leer. "Or at least a chisel. A tiny one."

Bofur chuckled. "Oh! Like they use when mining out the smallest of gem stones."

Kili choked and sputtered in fury.

Tauriel watched her lover's face turn a strange shade of puce with something akin to awe.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

They broke camp in the shelter of a rock cliff. The group had not gone as far as any of them would have liked. But Fili's still healing leg and Kili's decreased endurance from his lung injury had slowed them up. Tauriel had volunteered for the first watch.

Kili opened his mouth to volunteer with her, but clamped his mouth shut suddenly when his older brother struck him in the back of the head.

"Damn it!" Came the muffled shout as Kili's hands went to his mouth. "I bitmh may tonne."

Tauriel blinked with surprise and stared at Fili in question. The older of the two brothers pretended innocence and shrugged. "He said he bit his tongue." He translated unnecessarily.

The red-headed she elf's green eyes narrowed dangerously, a wicked slant to them that had the blond dwarf backing up a step. "Hey! You two can't stay up together. They only thing you'll be on watch for is each other."

The elf's jaw tightened and she fingered the hilt of her blade. "I would never be so derelict in my duties." Her voice dripped with a barely leashed temper.

Surprised, Fili nodded and held out his hands in surrender. "Maybe you wouldn't."

"HEY!" Protested Kili, he blotted at his tongue with his sleeve, surprised his mouth wasn't bleeding. "Do you mean that I would?! When have I ever ..."

"Ponies." Fili slid the word in like a verbal knife.

"NOT MY FAULT!" Yelped Kili, his eyes wide. "Not ALL my fault, anyway. You distracted me, sending me off to investigate strange noises."

"I went with you." Fili offered the verbal peace, even as he found a fairly flat piece of rock to sit on. His left leg was killing him, slowly he stretched his toes as far as he could within the confines of his boots.

Tauriel cocked her head slightly to one side, her red hair pushed behind her ears becomingly. "Then you both left the ponies?"

Bofur started whistling tunelessly and rolled out his sleeping blankets, shaking them carefully to avoid any biting critters. He thought balefully about a fire, but figured they were trying to keep a low profile out here. Too many roaming orcs and goblins and ..."does that smell like Troll?"

Fili blushed and shot Bofur an evil glance as he finished pulling off his boots. "Very funny."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"It's not a firemoon." Kili looked up at the night sky, as if blaming the universe for not being what he wanted right at that moment.

Tauriel looked around carefully, taking note of every little sign to tell her what was out there in the dark. "You should be asleep." She told him, but without any bite in her voice.

Kili watched her move her head. She wasn't trying to be beautiful, or sexy, or graceful. She just was all those things and more. He sighed.

Mistaking this sound, Tauriel frowned. "Are you in pain?"

Kili raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement, but didn't admit that the pain he was in was due to a more personal reason than she was asking about. "I'm breathing fine." Was all he would admit to at the moment.

"Then you should sleep." It wasn't a command, which he appreciated. And he was learning to read the different shades within her smooth voice. She was concerned.

"I should take this watch." Kili told her. "I can't sleep right now."

Suprised, Tauriel's eyes found him in the dark unbroken by a campfire they'd all deemed too dangerous out here. Her night vision was excellent, and he looked alright enough. "Why can't you sleep?"

"You're not beside me." Kili told her.

Green eyes widened as she stared at him. They'd only spent one night together in that manner, surely he wasn't used to having her with him so soon?

"Or my arm is aching and my chest feels like it's on fire." He grinned at her. "You pick."

The she-elf sighed at his antics and pointed toward his pack. "You have ointments ..."

"That make me smell like flowers, yes, I know." Kili grimaced. "And I used it too, trust me."

She did trust him, besides, she could indeed smell the slightly floral scent the medics used in the compound. "Herbs." She lied to him.

"Flowers." He sighed. "Very un-dwarven."

She smiled in the dark and sniffed the air again. This time there was something just on the edge of her senses. The she-elf stiffened.

Kili, attuned to her body language as he was, stiffened as well. He looked around, but could see nothing. "Tauriel?"

"Orc."

The dark-haired dwarf fingered his bow and sniffed the air. "Could be Fili's feet again." But even as he said that, he could tell that this scent was darker, fouler, and ...far too close.

Tauriel motioned toward the two sleeping dwarves. Kili nodded and moved toward the cliff face with the overhang protecting both Fili and Bofur. He shook them awake silently, and to their credit they made very little sound.

Fili shot his brother a look of question, then they all stopped and listened. Above them, on the rockface over their shelter, there came the sound of claws on stone.


	10. Scream

"Not worth'n the effort." Bofur looked sadly down at the pitiful remains of the bear. The poor beast looked half starved and with great chunks of skin and hair missing. Now it was dead, perforated by two arrows and several sword cuts.

"I think the Orcish smell is because it ate one." Fili pointed at the bits of rotten flesh still caught in the beast's mouth. "It's a wonder it wasn't already dead of indigestion."

After his own bout with stomach ailments and a healing gut, Kili winced and rubbed his own belly in sympathy. "Not funny."

"We'un have to move on though." Bofur sighed, looking out at the night sky. "Not much of a moon to guide us."

"Not much of a moon to reveal us." Tauriel countered, her sharp eyes scanning the horizon, even in the darkness.

The older of the three dwarves nodded. "Sorry boys, we can't rest here."

Fili was already gathering their gear, nodding. The scent of a fresh kill would soon draw other interested parties. Wildlife, goblins, orcs, or ...you never knew. "We can't take the time to butcher him for meat."

The she-elf shuddered and shook her head. "Especially not when I know he'd been gnawing on Orcs."

"Does rather spoil the taste of the meat." Agreed Bofur, shouldering his pack. He glanced over at Kili, the darkness hiding his concern. "You're awful quiet all of a sudden, laddie."

Kili flashed a quick grin and forced a laugh. "Fine, I'm fine."

Tauriel and Fili both instantly recognized the falseness of the cheer. If Bofur noticed, he didn't say.

The youngest dwarf grabbed his pack, rearranging items with more force than was strictly necessary. Tauriel stepped toward him and he turned slightly, his back to her. Shocked, she stilled.

Fili's eyes narrowed on his brother's back, he had a pretty good idea what was wrong. He gave a wave at the she-elf, her green eyes turned to him and he jerked his head over toward Bofur.

Tauriel looked again at Kili's back, reading his tension. Reluctantly she stepped away, grabbing what supplies they'd pulled from the ponies and turning to load them up once more. If her own movements were a bit more forceful than usual, Fili couldn't tell, but he certainly suspected.

Fili walked over to his brother, handing over the arrow he'd pulled from the bear's carcass. "It didn't chip."

Silence.

But then Fili wasn't an older brother for nothing. He would not be ignored.

"I thought elf maidens were too thin."

Silence. But Kili's jaw tightened and his brother could swear he could hear the teeth grinding.

"All your children will be taller than you."

Kili looked up, eyes flashing with temper.

"She'll leave you the first time you pass gas in her presence. Her being an elf and all. Do you think they ever have gas? Will it come out perfumed or something?"

Shock. Silence. Wide eyes. Then a sudden bark of laughter. The edge of temper sliding away, Kili shook his head at his older brother. "Idiot." He said fondly.

"You didn't miss." Fili got right to the point, handing over the arrow he'd already wiped clean of gore.

Kili's mouth tightned, some of his laughter fading into gloom. He sighed and yanked the arrow out of his brother's grasp. "I didn't hit what I was aiming for."

"You hit the bear."

"It was a big bear." Kili protested.

The blond dwarf shook his head. "Only a wee middling bear. Starving. Could see his ribs. Easy to miss. And you didn't."

The younger brother sighed deeply, replacing the arrow with his others in the quiver. "Close range. It wasn't a good shot." They both knew he meant it hadn't been a killing shot. "And I only got off one good one."

"The arm is healing, Kili." Fili put both hands on his brother's shoulders. "It's too soon, it's still healing."

"It's stiff." Kili whispered.

"Painful." Fili nodded. "My leg too."

Temper abated, both brothers stood together in the night, wondering at fate. Fili thought he knew what was bothering his brother, so Kili's next words shocked him a bit. "We shouldn't have survived."

Surprised, Fili blinked, his mind having to jump gears. "Not without Thorin, you mean?"

Kili nodded with dark sadness. "We're starting a new life. That's not fair."

"New life for sure. You're married." Teased the blond, hoping to shift his brother's mood.

Kili waved that off with a weak chuckle. "Handfasted."

"Without Thorin." Fili finished, his voice suddenly solemn. He paused, then thinned his lips as he continued. "Gandalf told me it wasn't a failure to survive."

Kili made an extremely rude noise.

"Hey!" Fili's voice brightened cheerfully. "We tried our damnedest to die. So what if an unearthly beauty decided you were too ugly to die?"

"What?" Kili sputtered, coughing as he tried to catch his breath and laugh all at the same time.

"It's the only thing I could figure. Tauriel has to see SOMETHING in you that no one else does. Scrawny thin, no-bearded, baby."

Kili struck his brother, sending him staggering back one step.

Off to the side, Tauriel straightened and started for the brothers. Bofur gave her a sharp whistle and shook his head at her. "Brothers."

"Cocky, stupid, ass!" Kili pointed at his older brother.

Both stood looking at each other for a long, long moment. Then suddenly, as if in unison, they laughed and opened their arms. The hug was dwarven big, as was the laughter.

Tauriel stared, she turned wide eyes back at Bofur who was smiling. He shrugged. "Brothers."

The red-head shook her head very slightly. "I'm 600 years old, I've known brothers before."

Bofur shrugged and thumped his own chest heartily. "Okay then. Dwarves. _Dwarven_ brothers. Better?"

Still bemused, Tauriel felt herself nod even as she watched the unusual display. Unusual for an elf, that is.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Almost daylight." Bofur noted, a yawn creaking his jaw as the group settled into the small cave. He looked around suspiciously and stamped the floor several times with his big boots.

Tauriel watched him, wondering what he was doing.

Fili grinned weakly, leaning heavily against a rock outcropping, obviously spent. "Last cave we slept in the floor dropped out from under us and we was captured by goblins."

Kili laughed, looking only slightly better than his older brother. "That was fun."

Both Fili and Bofur stared at the younger dwarf, who shrugged. "Well, it was."

Bofur coughed and looked pointedly at Tauriel. "You sure'n about your choice, lassie?"

Tauriel turned to the ponies, pulling on some of the ties. "This is an elfin safe place. There is more than merely rock protecting this cave. We can all rest here today."

Bofur made a face and looked at Kili and winked. "Boy, you'un got some making up to do."

Tauriel murmured several phrases in her native tongue, and suddenly all three dwarves stiffened as something powerful ran over their skin. Goosebumps ran up and down their bodies.

Bofur shook himself slightly and looked wide-eyed at the elf. "What'n was that?"

The red-head gave a small smile as she continued unpacking a few things. "Asking the magic guarding this place to recognize the three of you as friends. You not being Elves and all."

"I guess you can't be too mad, if you included me." Kili walked up beside his elfish lover, reaching out to help her. With his left hand.

Quicker than a snake strike, she turned and grabbed his right arm. Kili winced, but didn't protest.

Fili and Bofur turned away and headed to the opposite side of the cave. It was small, but large enough to offer a small amount of privacy. They could still hear though.

Tauriel lifted his arm, elbow straight, all the way until he looked like he was reaching for the ceiling. He smiled. She lowered his arm, and turned it so that the palm was facing upward. His smile slipped away, there was some stiffness there. His lover then bent his elbow and it got tighter and tighter, but did manage to close completely. Now his face was immobile as he tried to hide the soreness.

With the elbow still bent, Tauriel moved his arm away from his body, out toward the side like a chicken wing. His shoulder protested immediately. Kili shifted his weight and pressed his lips together, refusing to make a sound. Now, with the elbow still out to the side, she lifted his hand and began to move it behind his head. External rotation of the shoulder, as if he were to lay back with his hands under his head. Kili's face whitened and he stepped away from her before completing the movement. Because he couldn't complete the movement. He grimaced, pulling his arm from her hands with a jerk.

She let him go.

"You've made your point." He snarled, shaking his arm a bit.

Tauriel's own lips tightened. "Have I? Your arm isn't completely healed, not yet. You can't hold yourself to the same standards that you did ..."

"Wouldn't you?" Kili bit out the words, frustrated.

Taken aback she shook her head. "Don't you mean that I can't expect to be as good as I was before, but you have no clue how good I was with a bow. Or a blade. Or anything else other than maybe a barrel." His voice sounded unusually bitter.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He didn't answer. From the other side of the cave, Bofur decided enough was enough. "You're always rescuing him, lass. Bad for a dwarf's sense of manhood."

As quick as that, Kili drew an arrow and shot Bofur's hat off his head. The dwarf blinked, then smiled happily. "See? Perfect shot!"

"I missed." Groused Kili. "I was aiming for your eye."

Bofur's grin slipped, then he shrugged. "He's only kidding."

Tauriel wasn't so sure. "Does this go back to what you were talking about the other night, that you don't want to be bossed around or treated like a baby?"

Kili's eyes widened as she mentioned their bedroom talk, he flushed slightly and shot a glance at his brother and Bofur. "Shhh."

"Shut up." The red-headed elf looked at him, her green eyes full of warmth. "I know your worth, my love. I know you were part of a group of fourteen off to slay a dragon and claim a mountain. And it worked. That does not show me weakness."

"Wasn't at the mountain." Grumbled a slightly mollified dwarf.

Tauriel pushed his good shoulder slightly. "Not at first, but you were later. Still healing from a fell wound to your leg too, which was brave even if it wasn't the smartest thing to do. And should I even bring up how you jumped from the river to release the lever on the gate, which is how you came to be wounded in the first place?"

"Yes, mention that. I think it'll help!" Fili called out, giving her a thumb's up.

Kili growled at the two dwarves off on the other side of the cave. "I think we can end this now, it's a little less than private." He still sounded grumpy, but his face had lightened and the terrible tension with which he'd been holding himself seemed to disappear.

"You may not have died, but you stood with your Uncle until the very end. You did not break, nor run, nor show any weakness during that last battle. You stood tall."

"For a dwarf." He chuckled.

She caught his face in her hand and looked deeply into his eyes. "For anyone." The two stared into each other's gazes for a long moment of shared closeness.

Until Bofur whistled piercingly. "Kiss her you fool!"

Both Kili and Tauriel smiled and turned away, the mood broken. But both feeling much better. "Well." The she-elf smiled. "We made it through our first argument intact."

Kili looked puzzled. "What argument?"

Fili and Bofur walked over to the two and she looked at them for support, but they looked just as bemused as Kili did. "Still should have kissed her, lad." Bofur whispered loudly.

The older of the two brothers clapped his hands together. "That was no argument."

Tauriel looked back and forth between each of the dwarves, feeling a bit lost. "It wasn't?"

"Well'n. For an elf maybe." Bofur allowed. "Perhaps, don't know for sure. But not for a dwarf."

"No?" The red-head looked like she was sure they were pulling her leg.

Fili smiled. "No broken dishes."

"No broken bones." Bofur nodded, content.

Kili's smile matched his brother's. "No weapons drawn."

Tauriel had to point out the obvious. "You shot at Bofur."

The eldest of the three dwarves waved off that incidental. "Naw, that twern't nothing."

"I think I have a lot to get used to." Tauriel mused aloud.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili rolled out his gear, glad that Tauriel had said they could have a fire at the entrance of the cave. The elf assured them that the place was spelled, and completely safe. No one but another elf could even tell they were there. "Handy trick you have here."

"Oh, it's not mine." The Silvan elf frowned slightly. "It's an art lost to us really. From an earlier era. We can trigger the spells, but we no longer know the trick of making them."

"That's too bad." Bofur settled down, his belly full enough of camp stew. Hardy, but hardly gourmand. He burped happily. Now he was ready to sleep. "It's handy not to have to mount a watch."

Fili nodded, climbing into his own sleeping gear. But something was different. And he didn't have to look far to know what it was. His brother wasn't next to him.

Fili and Kili. Brothers. Assigned together to most chores. Watching each other's backs. Their gear always right next to each other. Until now.

The older of the two brothers glanced balefully over at Kili as he slid into his own sleeping gear. Did he even recognize that things were different? Sure, fine. He was handfasted now. Tauriel had the place by Kili's side, and that was right.

But he would miss his brother's closeness. Waking up to find Kili smug with some idea for mischief. Or dragging a still half-asleep Kili off on some adventure or another. Feeling a little abandoned, he watched Tauriel strip down her outer travel clothing and slip in beside his brother.

"He's still Kili, lad." Bofur seemed right on top of things, as usual. Fili tried to ignore the sharp-eyed toymaker. "You ain't lost him. You'll understand once you find yourself'n a wife."

A wife. Fili stared up at the top of the cave. Now where was he going to find a suitable dwarven maid? Feeling sorry for himself, he turned his head away from the others and hoped they believed him asleep. But the day defeated him. They'd trekked all day, and most the night as well. He was exhausted, and within moments not even angst could keep him awake any longer. A snort, and then a familiar snore. Fili was gone.

Kili lifted his head and looked over at where his brother lay. It did feel awfully strange sleeping so far away from the blond dwarf. But Tauriel slipping into their joined sleeping blankets helped. Helped a lot.

"Mmm ...you're warm. Hot. I like that."

Amused, Kili opened his arms and she slid in close to him. Immediately he hissed as she did indeed feel cold to him. He wrapped himself happily around her. "I thought elves didn't feel the effects of weather."

"We'd like you to think so." Tauriel savored the heat he was generating. "The High Elves do a better job of that than we Silvan elves."

Kili felt her hand slide inside his under-tunic, running her fingers through his chest hair and resting over his heart.

_She walks in wind and starlight_

_beauty untold and grace beyond measure_

_Red, green and gold ..._

"Gold?" She questioned.

Kili shushed her, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "It sounds better than cream, and easier to rhyme. Besides, dwarves like gold."

"Stream." She murmured close to his ear, bringing a shiver of delight down his spine.

"Hmmm." Kili tightened his arm around her.

The she-elf smiled against his ear, he could actually feel her facial expression. "Rhymes with cream."

"Doesn't fit with what I want to say." Protested Kili softly. "Stream?"

"Dream?" She offered.

Kili smiled as her fingers began tracing something on his chest. "What are you doing?"

"I like the way your chest feels. The hair." She tugged lightly on his chest hair in demonstration and then she shivered slightly. "The muscles."

The dwarf grinned in the darkness. "Elves are strong."

"Yes." She admitted. "But they don't ..." Her fingers traced the lines of muscle on his chest and upper abdomen, making him suck in his breath as his body reacted. "Bulk up like you do."

"I'm scrawny right now. After you starved me." He teased. "Just wait."

"Scream."

Confused, Kili turned his head, trying to read her face. "Huh?"

"It rhymes with cream."

All of a sudden several possible verses popped into his fertile mind and Kili chuckled. "Just what kind of song do you want me to write for you?" He half-choked. "Wherein I make you scream?"

Tauriel blushed, not having deliberately brought up such as subject. "I'm just saying that it rhymes."

Fili snorted from the other side of the fire, and the two lovers stilled. The she-elf sighed, shifting closer to her dwarven companion, kissing the side of his face. "Goodnight."

"Not as good as it could have been." Mourned Kili with a sleepy leer.


	11. Stewing

"We can take an extra day." Bofur said, keeping a cautious eye on the storm outside the cave.

Fili groaned and rubbed his swollen knee. "Not for my sake."

Bofur made a face and shook his head. "For mine. It be wet out there, and unlike our way'n out here we're not in hurry."

"Unless Bard informed Dain's people that Fili and I are alive." Kili pointed out, stirring the camp stew with interest.

From his seat upon a boulder, Fili stared down at a certain pink monogrammed cloth, rubbing it between his fingers. "He wouldn't."

The younger of the two dwarven brothers never looked up even as he smiled happily, sniffing the rich and meaty stew. "You don't know that."

"Yes I do." Fili said softly, feeling the silky smoothness of the pink token in his hand. The father who'd given him this, the man who'd slain Smaug, would not betray them like that.

Humming with anticipation, Kili smiled, dipping the ladle into the stewy goodness. His mouth watered.

"You're not supposed to be eating that'n lad." Bofur pointed out lazily.

"You going to turn tell-tale?" Kili rejoined, looking up with a grin. He spied his brother and nodded at the pink cloth that Fili was holding onto. "What's that?"

Fili quickly stuffed the token into his tunic. "Nothing." He shot a glance at his little brother and then away. Looking back at Kili he raised one eyebrow as he spoke. "Tauriel will have our heads if we let you eat that."

"She went out scouting. Are you really going to try and stop me?" Kili glanced at his brother, puzzled at the mirth on Fili's face. He straightened up, quickly suspicious. "What?"

"Would you have let him eat this?" The voice came from behind Kili, who'd not heard the approach of the she-elf and former captain of the king's guard. Her hand, with long elegant fingers, wrapped around Kili's own hand from behind.

The dark-eyed dwarf sighed, resigned, even as he offered a token protest. "Just a taste?" He wheedled.

Tauriel raised the ladle to her own lips, even though Kili didn't let go. His hand went high as she took a sip. "Hmm ...not bad."

"I wouldn't know." Grumped Kili.

The red-head looked down and saw the pleading in her lover's expressive eyes. "Please, my sweet?"

"My sweet?" She moved her mouth as she spoke, as if tasting the words on her tongue. Turning quickly, the ladle slipped from Kili's hand as she pulled a second pot from the fire, one filled with rice.

Kili groaned as she served the rice in an empty bowl, then brightened as she dipped the ladle into the meaty stew. "Really?"

Tauriel used her spoon to strain out the bigger chunks of meat and vegetables, especially the carrots, until all that was left in the ladle was the thick and rich broth. This she poured liberally over the rice before handing it back to Kili.

The dark-haired archer looked balefully down at his bowl, and then over to the stew pot hanging over the fire. A glance down at his bowl revealed ... "there's no meat."

"If you don't want that ..." Tauriel reached for his bowl again, and Kili's eyes went wide as he stepped back quickly. Managing to move his bowl out of her reach.

"Didn't say I didn't want it."

Bofur chuckled as Kili cautiously reached for a large spoon, keeping his eyes on Tauriel lest she try to wrest the bowl back away from him. "I take it nothing is moving out there?"

Tauriel shrugged, divesting herself of her thick cloak that was wet but had kept her warm and dry enough beneath. "It is difficult to know, the weather is not aiding us."

"We should move on." Fili said, feeling anxious to be going.

Bofur nodded as he lit his ever-present pipe, drawing in the pipeweed with a long pull and a smile. "Where?"

Fili scowled. "Gondor? Rohan?"

Kili moaned with pleasure as he ate the rice covered with the rich gravy. "You know what would make this better?"

"Meat." Bofur, Tauriel and Fili all said in unison.

Only slightly abashed, Kili grinned and took another bite.

"Soon, my love." Tauriel sat down next to him, on a lower boulder. She was still taller even so, but the difference wasn't quite so much sitting that way. She leaned closer to him, taking his hand in hers and directing his spoon toward her own mouth.

"Now lassie, taking food from a hungry dwarf is dangerous business." Bofur teased.

Kili watched as the spoon he held disappeared into Tauriel's mouth. Her expressive and full lips closed over the utensil in a sinfully sensuous manner. His eyes sparked in response. When she licked the spoon clean, her spring-green eyes found his own gaze. He moaned.

Fili's eyebrows shot up as he watched, and quickly turned away with a light blush on his cheeks. "Well, if you're going to starve a dwarf ...that's the way to do it."

"Fili? Bofur? Go away." Kili's voice sounded harsh.

His brother sighed, rubbed his aching knee and shut him down. "No. It's wet and miserable out there. And my leg hurts."

"Aye'n I just lit me pipe." Bofur didn't move a muscle, other than to take another long drag and blow a perfect smoke ring.

The sound of the wind increased, and the rain started hammering down even harder. Fili shook his head. "No."

Bofur paused, as if listening to something outside. "You sure we're invisible in here?"

Tauriel helped guide Kili's hand back to the bowl, this time she directed the spoon to his own mouth. Yet her eyes never left his. Shivers ran down his spine in a happy tingle. "Nay, not invisible. Hidden. No orc or goblin could break the spell. A troll might break the rock, but why? Only the elves could sense this place and the magics that shadow it."

Bofur sat up quickly as the scrape of a boot on rock came to him. Tauriel stiffened as well.

Weapons were drawn, with Fili rising to his feet and daggers within both hands. He ignored the twinge of pain from his left leg, his eyes on the entrance to the cave.

Kili's hand fell onto his own blade, his bow lamentably out of his reach. But Tauriel's hand covered his, and she smiled. She called out something in the Elven language.

Bofur's tension level dropped when the answer came back to them, in Elvish. His weapons didn't lower though, not yet. Tauriel shot him a look. "Well'un, the first time we crossed paths with you'n, well we got put in prison."

The she-elf thought that over a moment, then nodded in understanding. She called out something further in her native tongue.

A question was asked in response. Fili didn't understand the words, but he did catch the inflection. He watched Tauriel as she seemed to answer the question.

Slowly, several elves walked in, pushing back their hoods to show their faces. Hands were on hilts, but their weapons were not drawn. Tall, slender, graceful and with skin like starlit cream. Long falls of hair caught back in jeweled or carved pieces of ornament. Hair the colors of brown, black, blond and gold. Definitely elves.

The leader, so Fili surmised since he was in the lead and the one speaking, asked another question as he gestured around the cave. Interestingly enough, Tauriel's alertness had risen, not fallen.

"How about talking so we might all understand?" Bofur sounded a might peeved.

The leader of the elves, Fili counted five in all, nodded gracefully but not low. Doubtless he didn't think a dwarf needed such as sign of respect. "Of course. Our apologies." The voice was smooth as glass and even full of a bit of humor.

"Your business this far from your home." Tauriel asked suspiciously, her blades ready to fly at a moments notice.

The elvish leader gestured toward his travel cloak and robes. He reached slowly beneath the cloak and gave Tauriel a long look as he paused, clearly wanting her to know he was reaching for something other than a weapon. He pulled out a round disk, a stylized tree was carved from the center.

Tauriel's tension melted away and she gave a small bow of her own. "My apologies."

Fili stared at the disk and shrugged.

"It is a token of safe passage, sent by King Thranduil himself." The leader said gently, his dark eyebrows rising as he gestured towards the elves with him. "We travel from the Grey Havens at the Woodland king's request."

"A fair and length journey." Tauriel gifted the group with a small smile. "You are not far from the Mirkwood."

"That is good." The leader pushed his long dark hair behind his ear and gestured around them. "We sensed this place and the safety it represents. We did not mean to intrude." He looked at Tauriel, noting that she was Silvan and that her company was with dwarves. "I am Eloyne of Grey Havens."

He outranked her. Tauriel dropped her gaze. He outranked her by a lot. High Elf, most certainly. "Tauriel, formerly of King Thranduil's guard. We travel as well."

Eloyne's eyes widened a bit, as if surprised she travelled with the dwarves and not having met up here by accident. "Formerly?"

The red-headed she-elf pulled out a disk of her own, this one without the formal carving, but painted a rich green.

The High Elf relaxed with a smile.

Kili eyed the disk, a question in his eyes. Tauriel handed it to him. "Proof of not having deserted and released by the king's will."

The elves watched the byplay with passive interest. Kili wasn't sure that he liked the way their eyes fell on Tauriel. He frowned sharply.

"Have we offended?" Eloyne asked, not missing Kili's change of mood. Or the posessive way he stepped closer to the she-elf.

Tauriel shook her head slightly. "I wear his blue and silver gift." She reached back and touched the clasp holding back a portion of her long hair.

Surprise flashed across the eyes of the elven party, quickly being schooled into polite greetings as they each nodded at Kili with more respect than they'd yet shown.

"A kingly gift?" One of the other elves asked.

Tauriel shook her head. "By choice."

Bofur coughed and shrugged, trying to ease the mood. "We'un have some hot stew. Not enough for all, but enough to take the edge off until more can be cooked."

At this Eloyne's smile brightened. "We are not without supplies as well, but would not turn down anything already hot."

Bofur headed for the fire as the newcomers joined him, glad to shed their wet outer garments.

Kili leaned close to Tauriel. "What did he mean by kingly gift? That my hair clasp wasn't good enough for you?"

The red-head gave him a soft look and shook her head. "He was asking if we were handfasted at the king's order. I told him it was by choice. Mine."

Kili looked down at his boots, then back up at her. His eyes traced the deceptively soft curve of her cheek. "The gift isn't good enough for you. When we get settled, wherever we get settled, I'll craft something far more suitable."

Tauriel's heart sped up at the determination in his voice, her hand rising automatically to her hair. She touched the silver clasp and shook her head in denial. "I will love any gift from you, but I will never give up this one."

"What if I'd not had anything silver on me?" Kili asked her, unsure.

The she-elf reached out, pushing his hair behind his ear. Her fingers brushing the curve of his jaw. "It's called the blue and silver gift for tradition, but it doesn't actually have to be silver. It's symbolic."

"Gift giving is symbolic to dwarves as well. I should have crafted you something from my own specialty." Kili reached out and tugged gently on a handful of her long tresses.

"Specialty?" She asked gently.

Kili flashed her a cheeky grin. "My brother is a blacksmith, and specializes in weapons."

"And you?"

Kili sighed and shrugged. "Thorin said I lacked focus. I'm an adventurer."

"And so, what would you craft?" She teased.

The dark-eyed dwarf pursed his lips together and gave her a bold look. "Bringing you a dragon hide or something ..."

"Don't you dare." She hissed. "One dragon faced down in a lifetime is more than enough."

"Excuse me?"

Tauriel turned, seeing what the newcomer's question was.

Kili though, tuned them out. Until just a few moments ago, he'd actually kind of treated the whole handfasting business as a lark. He didn't feel married.

But the elves, they'd seen him as different ...but only once they knew he and Tauriel were handfasted. But by dwarven standards, they weren't. He'd not courted her, not properly.

His dark eyes roamed freely over the beautiful elf maid. Slender as a reed, but strong. So strong. Lethal. He'd seen her fight. The former-captain was a killing machine. And that didn't bother him in the slightest. It made him value her all the more.

And yet all she had from him was a silver hair clasp that he'd not even crafted himself. Oh, that would not do. Not for her. Yes, Thorin had often moaned that he lacked focus. That he was too reckless and often immature. But she. Oh she. Tauriel made him want to be so much more. Give her so much more. Especially since she asked for nothing.

Kili's mind raced with ideas and planning.

"Where are you heading?" Eloyne asked Bofur as the group settled down. Kili was shocked to see that the stew pot was nearly empty, but that two plump rabbits were now cleaned and skewered and roasting over the flames.

"Away." Bofur dismissed the question with a charming smile. "To visit kin."

Kili didn't want the elves to know where they were thinking of heading. What if anyone asked them if they'd met anyone on the road? Better not to divulge information like that. But how to change the topic?

"There's just a bit left in the stew pot, anyone in need before the rabbits are done?" Fili asked, beating his brother to the punch.

Kili watched the rabbits mournfully, knowing without asking that there was no way Tauriel would let him have even a mouthful. "I'd like some more stew." He sounded so sad.

Elyone and the other elves looked startled.

Tauriel dished the last of the rice into his bowl and smiled at him. She turned to the other elves and shrugged lightly. "Healing gut wound."

Sympathy flowed out of the elven delegation. But no stew.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	12. Loss

Fili stoked the fire awake in a desultory manner, looking bored as if he couldn't think of anything else to do.

Waking quickly, the younger brother yawned even as he realized he was alone under the blankets. He grinned engagingly and sat up, stretching as he took note of where his she-elf was sitting. Then he looked over at his older sibling. There his gaze stopped. He acted as if nothing were wrong, but his dark eyes were sharp as he watched Fili. There was too much tension in his brother's body language.

The blond dwarf gave Kili a glance from the corner of his eyes, and then looked over at where the elves where sitting. The group from the Grey Havens were speaking quietly to Tauriel in their racial language. His jaw tightened. The red-haired female seemed very at ease with their visitors.

"Morning." Kili tested the waters, wondering why his older brother seemed to be in a mood.

Fili turned his head finally, looking at Kili before looking away. "You're not dressed." He returned his attention back to the fire, but this time seemed intent on his task and not merely aimless.

Beyond surprised, Kili shot a glance at Bofur, who was silently watching everything while filling his pipe. The older dwarf shrugged as if to say he didn't know either, which was only partially true.

Kili looked down at himself. Well, sure he'd not worn his outer coat and tunic to bed, but he was still wearing his shirt. Mostly. It was unbuttoned, but he wasn't going to apologize if Tauriel liked to sleep with her hand resting on his chest. With her fingers tangled in his dark chest hair, her palm resting right over his heart. No, he wasn't going to apologize. It wasn't as if his pants were unbuttoned. He grimaced. More the shame. But there was no privacy out on their journey. Thinking of which ...

"Still raining?" Kili asked, frowning as Fili didn't answer him.

In the awkwardness of the following silence, Bofur watched both brothers. The elves stopped speaking as well, and while they did not appear to be interested, they were watching. Tauriel's expression was blank and unreadable.

Finally Bofur gave a patently false cough and jerked his head slightly toward the cave opening. "Raining? No. It's a deluge. We're'n lucky the cave hasn't flooded."

Elyone the elf spoke then, his voice lightly solemn. "Not luck."

Bofur's eyebrows raised. "Spell?"

The elf's dark hair shone glossily from the light of their fire, but even though it was morning there was little to no light from the sky outside their cave. "Not ours." He paused as if listening to something far distant, even though the dwarf could hear nothing but the beat of rain on rock. And thunder. "First age."

Bofur nodded, but he didn't really understand.

"It surrounds us." Elyone said gently, as his words explained everything.

Kili finished buttoning up his shirt and pulled on his heavier leathers and tunic. He began looking around for his boots.

"It certainly does." Fili said, his voice low, and sounding a little bitter. Bofur and Kili both shot the blond odd looks, the older dwarf with speculation.

"Brother?" Kili asked, only to stop as his sibling gave him an almost angry look. "Fili?"

The blond shook his head, shrugging one shoulder in a weak and silent apology. "I'm going outside to check the perimeter. I don't trust in ancient elven spell work."

If the elves were offended, it didn't show but for a tightening around the eyes.

Fili pushed his gear over, yanking on his thick outer coat and fur, throwing the hood up over his face.

"Not alone." Kili's voice sounded resolute, and with the beginnings of his own not inconsiderable temper.

"Lung injury." Bofur slid the words into the tense situation. "Lass, perhaps you could accompany Fili?"

This time Tauriel's face did show a hint of her suprise, her green eyes moving to stare widely at the elder dwarf. Yet she firmed her jaw and nodded.

Kili shook his head, "No."

Bofur held up one hand to the youngest of the dwarves present, then pulled in all his fingers but the first one in a 'hold' command.

Kili's jaw tightened so much his teeth could be heard grinding.

"Don't care." Fili walked past them all, uncaring who came with him out into the miserable weather. The moment he left the cave, water soaked through just about every protective layer he had. A shiver ran through him, only serving to send his temper soaring even higher.

A moment or two later, a tall she-elf stood beside him, her own hood covering her features. Lightning lit the area, showing glimpses of pale creamy skin along her jawline. She was not smiling. Well fine, neither was he.

She said something, but it was lost in the pounding rain that beat upon the rocks and ground around them. All he could see was the dim outline of her mouth moving.

Fili stared at her for a long moment. This wasn't her fault, not entirely. He knew he wasn't being fair. But right now the pain was far too much. The blonde turned his back on her and walked away.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili watched the two people he loved most in life disappear into the pouring rainfall. He growled, cursed under his breath and grabbed his boots. He was going out there with them.

The whistling sound was his only warning before Bofur's long blade sunk itself into the loose rock and dirt of the cavern floor. Right between his feet. The same feet he had not yet pulled his boots on over. His toes nearly tingled at the close call. Kili raised his dark eyes to stare over at the still reclining dwarf. "You have something to say?"

"Stay out of it." Bofur said sadly. "They have to work it out between them."

Kili straightened, staring. "They argued? When?"

Elyone looked back and forth between the two dwarves using only his eyes, his head not moving at all. Staying quite still, he watched.

"Lad, they both have to find a balance since they have something they both love in common." Bofur told him as gently as he could.

Kili's eyes widened and he shook his head. "I didn't hear any arguing."

"It wasn't out loud." Bofur pursed his lips, trying to find the right words. "Your brother, he's looked out for you his whole life. It's hard to let that go."

"But I haven't gone anywhere." Kili sounded lost.

Elyone shifted slightly, then nodded. "Wise words." He said, obviously speaking to Bofur and not Kili.

The younger dwarf scowled. "I don't need looking after." His voice hardened. "By either one of them."

Bofur chuckled and puffed resolutely on his pipe. "Oh lad. Yer mother would gladly box your'n ears for that tall tale."

Even the elves seemed a bit amused and smiled slightly, sending Kili's temper soaring. "I am not a child! I can take care of myself."

"Aye." Bofur agreed readily, letting Kili's temper simmer down a notch. "But you're loved. Deeply. At first I wasn't sure about the pretty lass, but her actions have proved my worries groundless."

"She hasn't used that word." Kili muttered. They'd played around it, calling each other endearments. But an 'I love you' hadn't come from either one of them.

Bofur didn't say anything, letting the moment lapse.

Elyone let the silence between the two dwarves lengthen a moment as they both thought about what was going on outside. Finally he looked over at Kili. He studied the young dwarf, as if trying to come to a decision. Finally he broke the silence. "Do you know anything about our mating rituals?"

Kili grumped and made a face and finally shrugged. "Blue and silver gift. Handfasting. Ten years acting like we're married but we can walk away, unless we have a child." He waved one hand in the air in a circle. "Yeah, that's about it."

"It's as formal as marriage." Elyone said gently. "For us. We take this very seriously."

Feeling cornered and defensive, Kili crossed his arms. "I'm taking it seriously." He protested with a bit of a bite to his voice.

"Elves take one spouse. In a lifetime."

Bofur sat up taller at this announcement, looking slightly startled. "But ...you'n live ...well ..." He scratched at his beard. "The word immortal comes to mind."

Elyone nodded slowly, his serious eyes finding Kili's gaze and pinning him with a hard stare. "Unless killed by a mortal wound, we do not die. We can fade away, but not age as you know it."

Sudden nausea pierced Kili like an arrow through the heart. Tauriel had chosen him, and he was NOT immortal. He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "But ..."

"Marriage outside our race is not common, but also not completely unheard of." The dark-haired elf continued smoothly. "But it is not something that an elf, even a Silvan elf, would choose without great thought or consideration."

The other elves with Elyone nodded slowly in agreement.

"She will choose no other in this life." The leader of the Grey Haven's delegation sighed slightly. "You are her choice. The other dwarf is your brother."

Kili sank down to sit on the cave floor. His world was spinning.

Bofur pointed the long stem of his pipe at the younger dwarf. "They have to find a balance. Agree to share you, because neither will be able to give you up."

The dark-haired dwarf grinned suddenly, breaking the solemnity of the moment. "I love them both, but not the same way obviously."

Laughing, Bofur nodded. "Yea'n. But it's not you having a problem finding a balance. It's between them."

Kili's grin faded. He thought about his brother and how it had always been the two of them, against the world. And he thought about Tauriel, and how she made him feel. Like the world didn't matter, as long as she could love him. He swallowed hard.

"It'll be alright lad." Bofur's confident words didn't match the worry in the older dwarf's eyes.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili looked around, trying to wipe away the rain from his eyes. But that was impossible, for it was falling from the sky too hard to be affected by a mere hand.

Walking the perimeter was not an option. He'd be lost within moments if he tried. He looked around for Tauriel, to signal that they should both go back inside, but he didn't see her.

An instant of panic, followed by a systematic search with his eyes as he turned in a slow circle. She couldn't have gone far.

Before he could complete the circle, a pale hand shot out and grabbed the back of his soaked and sodden collar. She yanked and he fell backwards into the protected crevice in the rocks.

Fili found himself face to face with a rock wall. He sneered and turned, finding the space tight. He was wedged agains the rocks and ...her. He came face to ...middle. His eyes had to rise to see the underside of her bosom, even covered as it were. It nearly hurt his neck to look up into her expressionless features.

At least the overhang allowed him to see, keeping the rain off their faces.

"This is inappropriate." Fili snarked, placing his hands on the rock wall behind her. He didn't have to lean into her personal space, there was no personal space to speak of.

"No, it's not." Tauriel said quietly, with Fili having to strain to hear her voice over the sound of wind, rain and even thunder.

The blond smiled confidently up at her. "Maybe you chose the wrong brother."

"Doubtful." Tauriel's voice was short, but not angry. Not yet. "But I did choose."

"Not too late to change your mind." Snarled Fili.

The she-elf shook her head. "Yes it is. Besides. I married him."

"Handfasted." Fili countered quickly.

Tauriel shrugged. "I will be with child soon enough."

"You don't know that." Snapped a very irritated dwarf.

The elven lass blinked down at him, moving her back around until she had enough room to sink into a modified squat. Resting her back against the crevice wall, she wasn't uncomfortable, though her legs would tire eventually. Still, it kept Fili from having to strain his neck so much in order to meet her gaze.

"Don't do me any favors." The dwarf snarled at her.

"I didn't." She paused and gave him a long, considering look. "Was I supposed to ask your permission to marry your brother?"

Stunned, Fili shook his head. "Handfasted." He protested again, but much weaker this time. She watched him, waiting him out. He thought about making her wait forever, but his own patience wore out quickly. "No. You didn't need my permission."

"What changed?" She asked in an almost gentle manner.

Fili winced, knowing that she knew that he'd not been angry until last night. And this morning.

"I ...I didn't think you would. I mean, I knew you'd come with us. But I don't think I knew what that would really mean." Fili pressed on, ignoring the fury of the storm surrounding them. "You sleep with him."

Tauriel nodded slowly, surprised at the protest. "You knew we'd come together. You even talked to your mother about this subject." And had supported the couple.

Fili groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. I did. And then you went and slept with him."

Catching the nuance, slight though it was, Tauriel paused. "You don't mean that as a euphamism for sexual contact."

Fili shook his head, feeling like a fool. "Slept. Just to be near him. Holding on to him."

Tauriel stared, connections weaving in her fertile and not dense mind. "How long have you looked out for Kili?"

The blond's jaw jutted slightly as he tensed. After a moment he forced himself to relax and shrug. "Seventy two years."

The she-elf stilled. "That's the entirety of his age."

Fili nodded achingly slowly. "I raised him, basically."

"Dis?"

The blond dwarf sighed. "Yeah, I mean yes. Yes, she loved him and held him too fast because our da died right after Kili was born. But she was grieving, and grieving hard."

"A lot of things fell to you." Tauriel's voice held a wealth of understanding, but all Fili heard was pity.

"Damn you!" His temper exploded as he pounded a fist painfully into the rocks beside her.

The elf stared at him, driving him crazy by appearing to become calmer instead of angry. "I hate you." Damn, he sounded petulant to his own ears. "Or not." He whispered.

"You lost your throne, your treasure, your mother, your friends, and your uncle." She said, watching his gaze drop away. "Now you feel like you're losing the one thing that's been constant to you your entire life. Kili."

"I have lost him."

Tauriel shook her head. "No."

Fili looked up at her, misery in his eyes. "It didn't really hit me until last night. But he's yours now."

She gave him a long look, then her lips tilted up very slightly. "Did you think that maybe you didn't lose a brother, you gained a sister?"

Fili groaned. "Don't pity me."

"I don't." She said truthfully. "I know nothing of where we are going. I know nothing of dwarven ways. I ...am unsure."

The blond stared at her for a long moment, trying to judge the validity of her words. "You can take care of yourself." He said slowly, carefully.

The she-elf nodded, not denying the charge. "But I will make mistakes, possibly grave one. And I don't want to. I have never been away from the Mirkwood."

His eyes widened at that admission as he calmed down. Not that his feelings of loss abated, but that at least his temper had vented. "We're all three starting new lives." He said, almost in wonder.

She nodded in agreement.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili felt himself grabbed the moment he was back inside the cave, dragged to the other side by an upset Kili. Well, that was right and just he supposed. "Look, I'm sorry about ..."

"I need your help." Kili looked at his big brother with need, despite actually being the taller of the two.

That was the moment that Fili's temper completely slid away. Yes, things were different. But his younger brother still needed him.

"How do I court Tauriel?"

Those whispered words made him stop cold, surprise on his face. He shot a glance over at the she-elf in question, finding that she was busy wringing water from her over-long hair. He looked back at Kili and shrugged. "You've already got her. Trust me on that." He added dryly.

Kili watched mournfully as his older brother sat and pulled off his boots, turning them upside down to drain the excess moisture gathered there. "No. Really."

Fili rolled his expressive eyes as he unfastened his sodden clothing, getting it ready to hang up in order to dry off. "Really. She proposed, you accepted. Married or handfasted, she's yours."

Kili drew up to his full height, looking nervous. "Elf traditions. Not dwarf."

Stilling, the older brother took in the words with serious regard. He nodded, understanding took over. "You want to marry her our way?"

"Only fair." Mumbled Kili. "I didn't really know what was going on with the whole gift thing. Wouldn't change it, mind you. But ...did you know elves only marry once. Each. Ever."

Fili shrugged, then froze as the implications bored deep into his head. He shot an incredulous glance over at Tauriel, finally understanding some more of what she'd tried to tell him tonight. "Dwarves can divorce. Rare, but we can."

"They don't. They fade for broken hearts and stuff like that." Kili sounded worried.

"Her heart ain't broken." Fili reassured him. "And you've already won her. She's wearing your hair clasp, brother."

Kili bit his lower lip, unsure. "I didn't craft it. I haven't courted her."

Fili stared at Kili and for the first time that day, he took a deep breath clean from worry or pain. What Tauriel had told him was true. He'd not lost his brother. Yes, things would be different. But he wasn't lost. He shot a glance over at the red-head in question. And maybe he really had gained something new.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**Well? I do hope you are enjoying! Love to hear from you. BTW, "handfasting" is not canon for elves. But the bit about one spouse per elf, that appears to be completely canon as far as my poor research skills could find with few exceptions.**


	13. Courting

**A/N: I do not speak, or write, Elvish. All mistakes of grammar, spelling, or sentence structure ...yeah, it's my fault.**

Kili looked over at the elves settling in for the night. His dark eyes missed nothing as he watched them, then turned his attention over to Bofur and Fili as they too got ready to go to sleep. He absently pulled his hair back, away from his face.

"Problem?" Tauriel watched him, as he watched the others.

Kili frowned and shook his head, denying anything was wrong.

The red-headed she-elf followed his gaze over to the others, but saw nothing wrong.

The dark-eyed dwarf sighed and pulled open his sleeping blankets, bending over to crawl beneath them. As he did so, a ripping sound became apparent. Kili stilled, a flush on his cheeks. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Tauriel paused and nodded. Bound to happen as Kili's healing digestive track started working more, now that she was giving him a bit more substance in his meals such as the fish today. "Did you like dinner?" She probed.

Kili nodded absently and slid inside his sleeping blankets, squirming his back as he settled into a more comfortable position. He smiled engagingly up at Tauriel, reaching up his hand for her to join him. "Fish stew? Mushy, but tasty." He admitted, smacking his lips lightly, even as he frowned.

Tauriel knelt next to him, raising the edge of her own blanket. She stopped as she caught the frown. His eyes were once again on the elven visitors who were sharing the cavern with them. She hesitated, "did they say something?" They were High Elves, she was not but Silvan. The higher castes, well, some of them looked down upon the Silvan elves. Way down. And more than a few looked even lower upon the dwarves. She'd thought better of Elyone and his escort, but perhaps ... "Did they ..." She didn't know how to ask.

Kili made a face, but didn't look like he was suffering from hurt feelings. "They're still here."

A bit startled, Tauriel looked over at Elyone as he chatted with the other elves.

"It stopped raining this afternoon."

Ah. Tauriel's face relaxed into a smile as she moved to slide in next to her dwarven lover. She was starting to understand. "Late this afternoon, maybe two hours before sunset. And the ground is but mud. Would you have them traverse the Mirkwood in those conditions, at night?" She sounded amused.

Kili made a face, but didn't disagree with her assesment. Instead he patted his chest and wrapped his other arm around her as she settled in close to him. "We still wouldn't have been alone." She pointed out gently. "_Ohta namba nauko ontane_."

His sudden grin nearly melted her heart, then an odd look passed over his face followed another rude sound. Dark eyes closed as he winced. "Sorry."

Tauriel snorted lightly, then stiffened. Her nose wrinkled. Kili looked abashed. "Medics said this would happen." He said in apology.

"Did you eat anything other than the fish stew I made for you?" Tauriel sighed, as his grin grew, but he didn't answer that particular question.

"Passing gas means that my body is working right." He winked at her, then made another face. The sound wasn't as loud this time, but Tauriel's eyes widened in distress as her nose wrinkled.

"My sense of smell is uninjured as well." She slid away from him.

Kili protested wordlessly as she gathered her blankets.

Tauriel leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to his lips. He leaned up toward her eagerly. She pulled away and he shook his head. "Don't go." He whispered hoarsely.

The she-elf hesitated, then his body betrayed him yet again. She pursed her lips closed and backed away. "What did you eat?" She said, trying not to breathe through her nose.

Kili shrugged. "Nothing." All of a sudden he caught a whiff of himself and coughed. "Nothing much." He amended.

Tauriel sighed and pressed a hand to the side of his face tenderly. "You hold my heart."

"I'd like to hold you." He gave one last, hopeful protest.

The red head smoothed his hair behind his ear tenderly. "My love, I like breathing."

He chuckled, right up until she actually rose and walked away from him. "Evil female." He muttered.

She turned and glared at him, the long fall of her hair loose and framing her supple form in the low light from the banked fire. His breath caught as he

"My love?" He amended his words quickly. "She who completes my heart. The music of the stars. The reason my soul sings."

Caught, Tauriel's full lips parted as her green eyes traced the lines of his face. "Goodnight my love." Her voice danced delicately over his skin, producing shivers down his body.

He peered at her, his gaze hot and needy.

"Don't do it, gal." Bofur's voice sounded amused. "We'un can smell him from over here."

Startled, Tauriel spun to look at the two other dwarves. Bofur ran a finger down his mustache and then pinched his nose. Fili waved his own calloused hand in front of his face, even as he grimaced.

Kili began cursing under his breath, flopping down onto his back and crossing his arms.

"He pouts." Fili teased and pointed to a space between he and Bofur.

She looked over at the elven delegation, who were watching without comment. Tauriel didn't even have to think about it as she dropped her blankets where her love's brother had indicated.

Fili's eyebrows shot up, a bit surprised that she'd chosen the two of them over the other elves. She didn't bother to explain she felt more at home with the foreign race, over the company of the High Elves.

"No offense, Fili." Bofur chuckled happily. "But she's a damn sight prettier to look at than you are."

"Which of you two let him eat something he shouldn't?" Tauriel asked, spreading out her blankets on the cavern floor.

Fili gave a deep, rumbling laugh. "Who said he had help? My brother has a habit of getting into spots all on his own. I mean, he did go and get married without any help from us."

Tauriel gave a small smile, nodding to show she accepted the blame for that. "So. It was you then."

Bofur laughed rowdily and pointed at the blond dwarf, who waved off the accusation. But denied nothing. Instead, he turned on the dimples that even his beard couldn't hide. "My brother wants to court you."

From across the cavern, Kili gave a loud protest of shock.

Fili shrugged, all sign of his earlier temper having vanished as if it didn't exist. Bemused, Tauriel stared at him. "I thought you were angry at me?"

"Quick to anger, quick to forgive." Bofur sang in a deep voice.

"Unless we're really mad." Fili countered. "No one holds a grudge like a dwarf."

"Loves more." Bofur added.

"Feels more." Fili continued, unabated.

"Lives more!" Kili yelled from off to the sides, still wrapped in his sleeping blankets. A loud noise interrupted them all from over where Kili was laying all by himself.

"Eats more." Tauriel sighed as they all laughed together. She let her laughter fade, watching the easy comradery between the dwarven males. "Courting? We're handfasted. I wear his gift."

Bofur sighed happily, snuggling down into his blankets. "Aye, and it looks grand on ye, lass." He yawned and relaxed, blinking up at her. "But it's Elvish customs. Not'n our own."

Tauriel's mouth opened, but she said nothing as thoughts raced around and around in her mind. Finally she looked back and forth between both Bofur and Fili. "What are the Dwarven customs?"

Bofur yawned again, this time the move was faked. His eyes closed tightly, too tightly for natural sleep. She turned toward Fili, who shrugged. "I've never done it."

"You were engaged!" Tauriel protested sharply.

Fili grinned, settling back with a grin. "Not anymore. So I'm no expert."

"You're still a dwarf!"

Fili shook his head, trying to look as innocent as possible. "We are walking away from a throne, from the mountains, and even from treasure. Doesn't sound like dwarves to me."

"True, lass."

"Silence." Tauriel hissed at Bofur. "You're asleep."

"Oh, right." The mustached older dwarf thanked her and closed his eyes again. "Go on then."

Fili yawned heavily and rolled over, giving her his back. A back that was shaking suspiciously, as if he were trying hard not to laugh.

Tauriel sighed and jerked her blankets around with a small sneer, getting ready to sleep. "Mad. I must be mad."

"Yer a dwarrowdam. Sorta." Bofur spoke from the corner of his mouth, his eyes still closed. "Without actually being dwarrow, of course'n."

"No beard." Fili's voice sounded almost strangled.

"Far too thin."

"Strong though." The blond interjected, still not looking at them.

"Oh aye, strong. But no beard." Bofur ended with a sad note.

Tauriel looked back and forth between the two and smiled. "I can shave you both without waking you." She threatened.

Both males started snoring. Loudly. She didn't call them on their pretense as she rolled her green eyes. The red-head settled into her blankets with a small sigh, staring up at the stone above her. Courting her? Just what would that entail? Sleep, she assumed, would be a long time coming.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

A certain she-elf woke in a grumpy mood, feeling like there was grit in her eyes. Blearily, she looked around. Wonderful, she was the last one to wake. Not normal for her. But then, she'd laid awake most of the night.

Her thoughts had raced, but she also kept listening out for Kili. She couldn't help it. It seemed she couldn't sleep unless she was sure he was alright. The red-head had lain awake most of the night, ready to go to him if he started groaning or thrashing. But though his digestive system had filled the air with pungent odors, Kili had not seemed to be in distress beyond mere discomfort.

Meaning, he was healing. The gut wound was closed. No infection. And finally, his body was starting to process foods in the proper way. Passing gas, though smelly, was a good sign. An extremely good sign.

Despite her weariness, Tauriel was smiling when she sat up.

"Finally awake?" Kili looked far too chipper this morning, in her opinion.

"How are you feeling?" She asked pointedly, as he approached her with a steaming mug.

Kili nodded, ducking his head slightly as he gave her an appealing look. "Better." He handed her the thick mug. "Thought you might like some tea."

Tauriel smiled thankfully, taking the hot mug gratefully with both her hands. She sniffed, then stilled. "Tea?" She questioned.

Kili grinned widely. "Good dwarvish black tea. It's great!"

Unsure, the she-elf blew a breath over the steaming mug. Behind Kili she saw a flailing arm. Her green eyes narrowed as she watched Bofur try and get her attention. He pointed at the mug almost frantically, nodding, and then pretended to drink it down.

Tauriel looked back up at Kili's handsome face, then back at Bofur. Only now Fili was mouthing something at her, and now he was pointing at the mug and nodding in an overexaggerated manner. All of a sudden she realized he was trying to mouth the word 'courting'.

Oh. The pretty elf smiled happily and took a big sip, nearly choking on the strong taste. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to smile up at Kili.

The dark-eyed dwarf smiled back, beaming at her. "You like it?"

"Love it." Her voice sounded hoarse and she cleared her throat. The tea was strong enough to strip varnish from wood. She took another sip, smaller this time. Wondering how she was going to handle drinking the whole thing. Then she looked up at Kili, and he looked so pleased that she was enjoying his offering. "So. This is part of courting?"

Kili looked surprised. "Uhm, no. It's part of breakfast. Are you sure you don't want any sweetener? Fili can't drink that without at least three spoonfuls."

Green eyes flew open wide as she leaned around her beloved to stare at Fili who was currently clutching his belly, rolling on the cavern floor lost in a spasm of laughter.

"Tauriel?" Kili caught the mug she thrust at him, hissing as the hot liquid spilled over his hands. He turned and watched his personal she-elf kick his only brother hard on the buttocks. "Uhm?"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Elyone wiped his fingers delicately on a napkin, enjoying the morning fare. Though he looked a bit confused. "Do dwarves normally wrestle like that with breakfasts?"

Bofur grinned around this swollen upper lip. "Not just breakfasts." He burped happily. "Any meal will do."

"Meal? Doesn't need to be a meal." Fili nodded happily, standing as he finished his own breakfast. Possibly because his hind end was sore from all the kicking. "But meals do make it more fun."

Elyone and the other elves appeared lost. So Bofur shrugged. "More ammunition." He raised his toast with a grin.

"You throw food?" The High Elf looked like he was hoping they were telling a joke. Right up until Bofur tossed the piece of toast right at Kili's head.

Tauriel's hand shot up and caught the piece of bread and handed it to Kili. The dark-eyed dwarf grinned. "Really?"

She nodded and he took a huge bite of the travel loaf, uncaring that it was a bit on the stale side. "Just remember, if you over eat ...you'll be sleeping alone."

Mouth open to take another bite, Kili slowed and turned his heated gaze up at her. He judged her seriousness, and this time took a much smaller bite and started chewing more diligently.

Tauriel looked up, to find the other elves watching her speculatively. She refused to be embarrassed. She deliberately widened her smile and the other elves looked at each other, and then away. High Elves. Pff. She looked back at Kili as he grinned and tore off a chunk of bread, handing it to her.

To the High Elves, this might seem rough. Bread torn, not cut. No plate or napkin. Bread taken from a loaf that someone else had already bitten into. Tauriel paused, then deliberately accepted the piece of bread and took a bite. Kili grinned up at her, clearly besotted. Her heart about sang.

"Dang, boy." Bofur sighed lustily, grinning ear to ear. "Now that's a sight to make an old dwarf happy."

"Yes, well ..." Elyone didn't seem to know what conversational gambit to take. "I trust you are recovering from your wounds?"

Kili patted his belly and nodded. "Breathing without pain now, too." He burped, spraying bread crumbs a bit. "Mostly."

Surprised, Elyone looked over at Tauriel. She shrugged. "Lung pierced as well as gutted."

"My leg was sliced pretty badly." Fili mentioned almost absently. "I'm healing too."

The High Elf nodded slowly at Kili. "You are blessed to be living."

"More than you know." Kili nodded at Tauriel. "She'd already saved me once from a poisoned arrow."

"Had an infection." Fili sighed. "Learned to fly."

Bofur chuckled and threw the blond an apple. Fili laughed and bit into the juicy flesh with gusto, his good humor restored.

Elyone looked saddened. "You seem to get injured a lot."

Pity was the last thing Kili wanted. But Tauriel stuffed her bread into his mouth, knowing he was going to explain about being part of the delegation who'd gone to face down a terrible dragon. "Orcs." She smoothed over the moment. "Morgul-arrow."

The High Elves stiffened in sudden attention and focus.

Bofur nodded. "Aye. Lad used to go on adventures, 'til he took that arrow to the knee."

"Thigh." Grumped Kili, trying to choke down some water to clear his throat. "Knee is fine."

"My knee is still healing." Fili said, then stopped when all eyes turned to him. "I was just saying. Orcs too."

"Morgul-blades?" The elves inquired, looking stunned.

Fili shook his head with a wondering look. "No. Normal blades I think. But then again, they slice you up pretty good."

Elyone pushed himself up to standing. "Well, that settles it. Morgul-arrow? Yes. We can not wait for the ground to dry. The weather is clear enough. We must push on. We have things to discuss with King Thranduil."

Tauriel stiffened, her green eyes speculative and slightly alarmed.

The other elves nodded as their leader continued. "Orcs, goblins and trolls as well as other foul and fell beasts are becoming too numerous to ignore. Something has changed. Some of our far-seers are reading signs that they do not like."

"We too need to be moving." Tauriel stood as well.

Kili and Fili looked at each other, the earlier good mood of the group dissipating.

"Young dwarf. Handfasted love of Tauriel. You are very fortunate to be living." Elyone bowed low, backing away to head over to the delegation's travel packs.

"Handfasted love of Tauriel?" Bofur said slowly. "So'un, we would call you the handfasted love of Kili?"

The red-head nodded absently, as she looked around the cavern. "That would be the proper way to speak it." She scanned the area. "How swiftly can we be away?"

"What's the hurry all of a sudden?" Fili asked quietly.

Tauriel shook her head. "Bad feeling." She didn't mention that the nervousness of the High Elves was making her skin crawl. What signs had their far-seers noted?

Bofur shrugged, standing. "You'n have a bad feeling?" He looked intently at the red-headed elf who had married one of their own. Giving up everything in her life to follow him. "Good enough for me. Let's be moving."

"Where?" Fili grumped. They still didn't have a destination in mind.

Kili shrugged. "The high pass?" He didn't even know why he suggested it, other than it was the safer way through the mountains. And heading away from the Mirkwood ...not to mention the Lonely Mountain, and King Dain.

Tauriel considered that option, nodding slowly. It would take them near Rivendell. But it was also in the Misty Mountains. Dwarves liked mountains, she was pretty sure.

"Well then, lads and lassie. Let's be getting ready."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**Second A/N: Yeah, the reference to the Skyrim line? Go ahead and groan. I couldn't help myself.**


	14. Translation

"Handfasted love of Kili." His voice teased her, tickling her senses as she smiled. She didn't look up from where she was gathering her pack, rebalancing the items within for ease of movement.

"Yes, handfasted love of Tauriel?" Only it wasn't her voice who answered, rather than Fili's in a comically high falsetto and mocking tone.

Kili made a face at his older brother and when he saw that his red-headed she-elf wasn't looking, added a rude hand gesture.

Fili laughed, slinging his pack around his broad shoulders with ease. His head thrown back in true mirth.

Bofur pushed his way between the two brothers, heading for the cave entrance. "The other'n elves have left. It'd be our'n turn now."

"We dwarves will lead, since the elf seems to be lagging behind." Fili teased as he turned, walking out the cavern which had shielded them so well from the recent storms.

"The elf?" Tauriel's voice echoed in the nearly empty cave. "Had to undo the protection spells. It would have been unwise to leave them." Yet she'd also had to prepare the spells in case this place was in need by elven travellers again.

Fili's laughter faded as he moved outside. The dark-haired brother, the one she'd fallen for, reached out and since she was bent over he was able to run his hand down her back from the nape of her neck on down. She straightened when his palm tightened possessively on her bottom.

Turning, Tauriel stared at Kili, whose grin only widened under her scrutiny. She did take note that they were alone. He winked at her, his mouth twitched with humor and also something far more sensusal. "Love to make them wait."

Her green eyes sparked and she blew out a long breath. "I could seal the cave from them, keep them out. Re-set the spells." She offered, knowing that they would be doing no such thing.

Kili's grin disappeared as his mouth dropped open, heat suddenly burning from his dark-eyes. His breathing hitched and one hand went to his heart. "Oh love, if only we could."

Tenderly, and with a great deal of regret, Tauriel leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to the side of his mouth. Or that was her intent.

Kili moved quickly, marginally sliding his head in order to capture her kiss with his own lips. His hand caught the back of her head, burying his large blunt fingers in the silky soft hair. She gasped at the intensity of his need, and the dwarf took immediate advantage. Moaning, she could feel his tongue invading her mouth. How? How could he make her feel like this?

He was so far from what she'd dreamed of finding in a mate. Yes, there was intelligence and bravery. But instead of solemn studiousness, there was a quick wit that continually caught her off-guard. His laugh drew her out of her own quietness, and he appreciated her own sense of humor unlike many she'd grown up with.

A loud moan interrupted her musings, and unfortunately it came from neither of them.

"Oh for ... we'un have to be going!" Bofur's voice sounded peeved and amused at the same time. He'd obviously come back into the cavern to see just what was holding them up.

Tauriel pulled back with great reluctance, her own breathing quite rapid as she looked up. A quick smile flirted with her now swollen lips as she saw that the older dwarf had his hand over his eyes.

The red-head pulled on the straps of her pack and walked toward the front of the cave. She stopped next to Bofur and smiled. "You can look now."

"Well'n." The mustached dwarf smiled and dropped his hand, rocking back and forth slightly on his feet. He gave her a bit of a salute as she joined Fili outside. "Coming laddie?"

"No." Grumped Kili. "Unfortunately, no."

Bofur stopped mid-turn and started to ask, then stilled. His eyes bugged slightly and he blushed. "Now laddie, not the time nor'n the place."

Kili grimaced heavily and nodded, even as he agreed. "I know, I know." But ...but in a very short time he'd fallen in love, nearly died twice, gotten handfasted, and had only been able to lay with her but for one night. It wasn't nearly enough. "We need to get to where ever we are going, fast."

Bofur heard the younger dwarf's muttering and nodded, though not for the same reasons.

Kili reached down and readjusted himself and sighed, shouldering his own heavy pack.

Outside, Tauriel didn't bother looking at her love's brother. She headed right for the ponies, grimacing at the mucky feeling of the over-wet ground. "Muddy."

The she-elf repacked her bags, hanging them so they hung evenly on the back of her pony. Her hands moved on automatic, her mind racing. This. This place was farther from her home than she'd ever been in ...600 years. Her fingers stalled and she took a deep breath.

She should feel more sorrow, shouldn't she? And while she loved her home, and the Mirkwood, dangerous as it could be ...as she looked over the horizon, all she could think about was all the things she had yet to see.

And a big part of that was currently cursing somewhere behind her. How she could tell it was his deep rumble, she couldn't say. But she just knew. Kili. Love of Tauriel. How had that happened?

She smiled tenderly as she recalled how his eyes had drawn her from the very first. How he'd teased her, and drawn her despite herself. Her smile faded as she thought about how close she'd come to losing him. Twice.

Yes, she was starting an adventure. Going places, seeing things, but without him ...without Kili ...it would be nothing. On that thought, her smile returned and she turned to look at him. Abruptly she began to laugh.

Kili glared up at his love as he heard her amusement.

Tauriel's laughter eased into a broad smile as she watched all three dwarves slog through the muddy quagmire. Kili wasn't the only one cursing as they muscled their way through.

Fili's face reddened alarmingly as his right leg sank down into a dip in the uneven ground, the mud now seeping in over his heavy boot. With his still healing left leg, he was straining hard to keep his balance and pull his leg free.

"Not fair when you can walk lightly over this mess." Kili yelled at her as his arms windmilled a moment before he caught his own balance.

Tauriel shrugged, not apologizing for her race. "Need help?"

"NO!" Three affronted male voices rose up immediately.

Fili managed to pull his right leg free, only to curse even louder as he realized his boot hadn't come loose with his foot. It was still buried under the mud.

Kili began laughing outrageously at his older brother's plight, only to stop as his mouth was suddenly full of mud. His face stinging, he coughed and sputtered as he spit out the mess, running one hand over his face to wipe off the mud.

Glaring, he stared at Fili who was grinning outrageously and with his hand covered in muck and mud.

Bofur sighed and shook his head, his expression showing he was fighting off a large smile. "Now laddies, we'un don't have the time ...oh dear." His eyes widened as Kili nailed his older brother with a throw of his own.

Standing on one leg as he was, Fili fell backwards into the mud at the strike. His arms flailed as landed with a loud shout of protest.

"Oh dear." Tauriel's eyes sought Bofur, who shrugged at her only a second before a wild pitch of slung mud struck him on the side of his face.

And then, it was on.

The mud was flying between the three male dwarves faster than her eyes could keep up. "Oh. Kili? Bofur? Stop! Fili! STOP!"

The fact that the she-elf yelled, finally penetrated through to the three dwarves. All of them stared at her in various stages of filth.

Tauriel blinked, a bit in shock. Bofur was splattered liberally with mud. Her beloved Kili's dark hair looked gray streaked and he had globs of mud still clinging to his face, a bit fell off as she watched. her green eyes turned to Fili and she shook her head. He was covered in mud, having been the one to fall into it. He was nearly unrecognizable except for the cheekiness of his grin.

"She looks too clean." Fili said easily, his eyes sparkling with mischievous fun.

Tauriel's eyes widened, but then she relaxed as Bofur and Kili both demurred. She watched as Fili dug out his missing boot and struggled to make his way through the thick muck over toward her and the ponies.

Both Kili and Bofur got there first, and as filthy as they were, they were both grinning like mad idiots. One thing that she was going to have to get used to, was the dwarven sense of humor.

She glanced at her love, and saw him completely ignoring his state of mess as he worked. Smiling. He was happy. Tauriel couldn't help the spread of a soft smile as she watched him work loading up his pony. All of her nerves settled as her eyes took him in.

Going off into the unknown was exciting. Starting a life with Kili, even more so.

"What's a little mud between brothers?" Fili's voice came from behind her and she turned.

The filthy and mud encrusted blond winked at her happily. "Or between brother and sister?"

That was her only warning before she was caught up in the biggest hug of her live. Tauriel's eyes widened in alarm as she realized he was rubbing his muddy self all over her clean travel gear. Exasperated, she pushed at him and he let her go with a deep, rumbling chuckle. "Your own fault. You're the one who decided to marry my baby brother."

Tauriel glared at him and looked down at herself. Imprint of muddy dwarf.

Kili's mobile mouth was trying hard to surpress his amusement as he handed her a clean cloth.

The she-elf looked down at the cloth and then at her clothes. It was woefully inadequate. She had gobs of muck and mud all over her.

Fili began to laugh outright, until he had to wince and suck in a hard breath as Kili's elbow found his ribs.

Tauriel sighed and looked at the two brothers as Bofur walked up beside her. "Ah, now lassie. It's just a bit of muddy fun. If ye are serious about having a life with ...Mmfph."

Fili and Kili both stopped and turned to stare, then to give great big raspy laughs as they pointed in uproarious fun at their dwarven companion.

Bofur spit out the mud that Tauriel had scooped up off her clothing and had stuffed in his face. He gave her a shocked look. "Lassie?"

"Just trying to fit in." She said with a bit of a smug smile.

Bofur watched her walk away in a bit of stunned disbelief. He turned to Kili and Fili and cocked his head a the departing she-elf. "We are sure'n she's an elf, right?"

Fili clapped his younger brother on the back of his filthy shoulder. "She must be blind, choosing you."

Tauriel looked at the blond dwarf and shook her head and said something in elvish.

Fili pointed at the taller female as he stared at his brother. "Are you going to let her get away with calling me that?" Clearly not knowing what she'd said.

Kili just grinned widely and hoped they picked a place to go really soon. He was about dying to be alone with her again.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

_Down the lengthy ways and roads_

_to a Shire green for a hobbit bold_

_we travel on to mountain paths_

_to meet a dragon and retrieve our gold_

_With sorrow in our heart of hearts_

_we say goodbye to heroes who won't grow old_

Tauriel sighed, feeling the sorrow and longing in Kili's voice, knowing he was singing about his Uncle Thorin. Bofur and Fili seemed to hum along, but it was Kili's song.

_On our way we cross through forests_

_dark and whispered where spiders creep_

_rolling webs and trolls of stone_

_Elvish prisons and cells dug so deep_

_But lo in the darkness starlight dwells_

_shining a light, piercing the heart who can only weep _

"Weep?" Tauriel scoffed lightly. "You were inviting me to search your pants. Weeping wasn't involved." Though she squirmed a bit, guessing that the starlight in his verse was meant to be her.

Bofur shot her a look and she took the hint, quieting down to let Kili finish his song.

_With hands of grace and jade green eyes_

_Holding death back with strength standing tall_

_There she shines with hair like a silken sheath_

_Heart of stone meets her own and his will falls _

_But that she could truly love him was beyond belief_

_To her gift of blue and silver he cannot ignore her call_

This time when the verse trailed off, Tauriel couldn't speak. Silence flowed over the group as the last haunting sound of the rich baritones faded over the area. Only the sound of the ponies trodding along the less than dry ground could be heard.

Bofur cleared his throat. "Lassie?"

Tauriel's eyes were wide, and there was a lump in her throat. She didn't know how to respond. It thrilled her, but also was highly embarrassing, that he would sing of his feelings for her so openly in front of others.

Not that elves didn't do such things. But ...never to her.

Kili looked at her, obviously waiting for some kind of response. Even Fili was staying silent as he watched for her reaction.

"Bofur? How would a dwarrowdam respond?" She whispered, knowing they could all hear her just fine.

The older male dwarf nodded a moment, then shrugged. "She'd knock the lad on his arse for impertenence, accept him, or sing him a song back. No set response really. Just what you'rn feeling lass."

What she was feeling.

Tauriel swallowed the lump in her throat as her mind raced. She wasn't used to declaring her feelings. Nor was she used to having such feelings. Her green eyes found Kili's dark stare and she took a deep breath.

"You don't have to ..." Kili's words stalled as she interrupted him.

"_Amin mela lle. Mela en' coiamin, amin lava a' lle_." Her voice sounded a bit hoarse for an elf, yet full of emotion. Was it easier to tell him that she loved him knowing the words to be foreign to him? Yes. Perhaps not fair, but ...she caught sight of his expression. Kili stared at her a long moment, then his face melted into a sloppy grin.

Tauriel's heartrate sped up as her hands tightened on her reins.

Fili leaned toward his brother over the neck of his pony. "Did you understand what she said?"

Kili nodded even as he answered, "no." But he could see love radiating out from her eyes. He understood that just fine.

"I will teach you." She promised with dark heat, sending a shiver down Kili's spine.

_"Amin mela lle. Mela en' coiamin, amin lava a' lle."_ Kili repeated under his breath. He caught Tauriel's surprised look and shrugged. "We dwarves have a good ear for such things."

The she-elf nodded, wondering what he would say in return. Once he figured out she'd said _'I love you. Love of my life, I yield to you."_

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**A/N: I am not a poet, nor a singer. Apologies. **


	15. Quiet

"Something be wrong."

Startled, Tauriel was torn from her inner musings. She looked around, her green eyes sharp. The rolling hills looked like they had for the past several hours. Like they had yesterday. And the day before.

The mud had been left behind. As if there was an ineffable line where rain had fallen hard to soak the ground in one area, but had withheld the life-giving moisture from the other.

For one such as she, it was beyond strange. But though large, the Mirkwood and it's surrounds were all she really was familiar with. And yes, it was a big enough area that it could be raining in one corner, but not in the next. But to see it like this, in the wide open space in which they now travelled ...it was ...different.

"I see nothing." The red-headed elf said slowly, not disbelieving in Bofur's words, but questioningly.

"It'n be quiet." Bofur said, his voice a bit lower than usual.

Fili snorted. "My brother finally ran out of songs? Or he ran out of words to rhyme with 'green', 'love', and 'joy'?"

"Shut it." Kili sniffed, clearly insulted.

Tauriel looked around carefully, then frowned. "Is it not supposed to be quiet?"

Bofur shook his head. "I hear the wind, and it be right. The grass is beneath the hooves of our mounts, and that be right too."

"What isn't right?" Kili asked curiously, now on alert and looking around as closely as the others. His free hand rested on the hilt of his weapon, while the other tightened on his reins.

"Birds. Bugs. Wildlife." Tauriel guessed, her lips tightening as she realized she'd missed the clues. "Sudulthurkh."

Fili jerked in his saddle, spinning his head to stare with an open mouth at the pretty she-elf. Bofur choked and pushed his hat back on his head to the point where it about fell off, and he had to make a frantic grab to keep from losing it.

Kili dropped his head, staring down at his hands.

Bofur cleared his throat, his eyes a bit wide and shocked. "Lass?"

Tauriel shrugged, knowing she was treading on perilous ground. "Did I not say it right?"

Fili nodded slowly, even as his eyes cut over to glare at his younger brother. "What did you mean to say?"

"That this is a dangerous road." Tauriel saw no need to lie about it. She squared her shoulders and met the blond dwarf's gaze head on. "Kili and I are handfasted." She said, using it as her only explanation for using the dwarven language.

Fili sighed deeply. "Basically married. Yeah, yeah. But ... Khuzdul is ...secret. A language isolate."

Khuzdul. The secret language of the dwarves. One that did not vary with accents or locations, as did the tongues of men and elves. This language was not cradle-speech, or learned listening to their parents. It was carefully taught as a dwarf grew and aged, and with great reverence. And not taught to outsiders.

"Eol the Elf knew our language." Kili tried to defend himself.

Bofur sputtered and shook his head vigorously. "Not'n a good example lad, that story ended poorly!"

"But not because Eol knew Khuzdul!" Protested the younger dwarf. "It ended badly because, well that was elf stuff."

"Elf stuff?" Now Tauriel protested hearing her people's great tales of history so dismissed.

Fili began to laugh, watching the outrage on all three faces of his companions. "Oh Kili."

The younger of the two brothers grumped, then sighed. "I just taught her a few words. So she'd teach me what she said to me the other day."

"And has she?" Fili asked, now curious, and still unsure about how he felt about Tauriel learning Khuzdul.

Kili made a face and shrugged defensively. "_Cormamin lindua ele lle_." He said it slowly and with great care on pronunciation.

Bofur put his hat back on his head, firmly tamping it down. "And what'n does that mean, lad?"

Kili blushed. Fili laughed. Bofur just sighed. "Am I even old enough to hear what it means?" He teased, since he was older than both of the brothers. Kili mumbled something.

"Eh?" Fili prodded. "I didn't hear you."

Kili shot a look at Tauriel, finding her too smug for his sensabilities. "It means 'my heart sings to see thee'."

Tauriel smiled at him, while his older brother looked like he might fall off his pony for laughing.

Kili smiled calmly over at the she-elf. "She may think I don't get it. But 'cormamin'? Close to amin, and it's got to be connected to the word 'my'. And lle means 'you'. All I need now is to translate 'mela'. So ... Me, I, myself or my, something else, and then you ...meaning me."

Tauriel stopped smiling, a bit surprised that Kili was that quick to parse out the elven language.

Bofur coughed and decided to have a go. "Lass? What does 'mela' mean?"

She didn't have to answer, but she wasn't ashamed either. Still, it wasn't something to discuss with other than Kili. Not yet. "This road is still dangerous."

Fili's laughter faded slowly to a chuckle, until finally he was just grinning. "Oh Tauriel. That's not what the word means, no ...that just means you want to turn the subject."

"Bofur? Do you still feel that something is wrong?" The red-headed elf queried.

The elder dwarf male sighed and listened for a long moment, hearing naught but the wind and the ground crunching beneath their mount's hooves. "It'd be too quiet. And while I might'n have a lot more to say on a certain elf-lass learning our dwarven language." He shot a warning glance over at Kili, who managed to look utterly innocent. "I do feel that something is quite amiss."

Now each of them fell silent, all listening ...to nothing.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Sun's not too far from resting for the day." Bofur looked out over the horizon in every direction. "And I don't see a good place'n to rest for the night."

Fili nodded carefully. They'd spent the last hour listening to nothing at all, and yet they were no closer to knowing why they all seemed to feel as if something were seriously wrong. "The ponies won't last through the night if we keep going. They're knackered and need to rest and water."

Tauriel's lips thinned. She agreed with Fili's assessment, but all of her nerves were on high alert. Now that Bofur had called her attention to it, the unearthly silence was getting to her too.

Abruptly, a sound pierced the area. All four riders stilled, Kili going so far as to halt his pony. They listened. But the sound had been faint, and to far away. Another sound. But it was just as faint.

Fili's eyebrows knitted together as he concentrated. "Sounds like metal on metal."

"Or on stone." Bofur shook his head, not sure.

Tauriel was getting frustrated. Out of the woods, she was having a difficult time adjusting to all the open space around her. "I can't sense the direction!" A further sound had her whipping her head around to the northwest.

Kili too was looking in that direction, his face a study in concentration.

Bofur frowned. "Metal on metal could be industry." He offered the explanation hesitantly.

"Not rhythmic enough to be a blacksmith." Fili shook his head resolutely. "That's fighting."

"We're trying to avoid trouble." Kili said, though the eagerness in his eyes belied his words. It was obvious he wanted to go check out what was happening.

Another sound. Tauriel frowned. "That was a scream. But too far away to assist."

Bofur shook his head. "Naw, lassie. The hills play with sound. It could be a lot closer, depends on ..."

Fili kicked his pony toward the sound without asking anyone's opinion. Kili was right beside him, so that they almost moved as one unit.

Tauriel shot a glance at Bofur, who was grimacing. "Save me from young dwarves with something to prove." He caught her staring at him and he shrugged. "Typical. Injured, having to be carried off the battlefield? They won't feel right until they've fought, and won, another battle."

With that little kernal of information, Bofur kicked his own pony into gear and headed after the younger members of their party.

Tauriel watched the dwarves leave, and quickly followed, amazed at the change in her circumstances. Just a few weeks ago, as a Captain in her King's guard she would have had to turn away from investigating ...since it wasn't on their territory. Her orders would have precluded her from assisting.

Now. She rode with dwarves, who deliberately rode into the unknown in order to ...what? Test their still only partially healed strength against an enemy unknown? She'd gone from one extreme to the other.

All because a certain handsome dwarf couldn't keep his mouth shut about the Firemoon. She smiled and urged her own mount to catch up.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Orcs." The word was said in disgust. And whispered.

The sun was now setting, and the sight before them was a pitiful one.

A merchant caravan pinned against a natural rock formation, and yet surrounded. Orcs poked at their captives with their stolen weaponry, licking their lips and making obscene comments.

Fili's disgust was clear, his burning eyes on the guards for the caravan. Two were clearly dead and being butchered for an Orcish meal. Five were being paid off. It was clear they'd betrayed their employers for a bribe.

Tauriel's eyes expertly catalogued the area. Twelve innocents, including at least three adolesent humans. Five human guards, well armed. And at least eight Orcs.

The advesaries outnumbered the innocent merchants by only one. But that wasn't enough to make them evenly matched. The merchhants were clearly terrified and unprepared to defend themselves. Some were young, others too old.

"No wargs." Kili whispered.

"Down from the mountains, starving and displaced for being too weak." Tauriel whispered back. She'd seen such as these before. Some of the Orcs were injured or missing limbs. Not of use to their tribes, so kicked out to fend for themselves. "They've banded together to raid."

All of them considered the possibilities. They could still slip away unnoticed. This was a human merchant caravan after all.

"I hate Orcs." Fili said, his eyes feeling like they were burning. In his mind, all he could see was wave after wave of orcs, goblins and trolls coming after him. Coming after him and Kili and Thorin and ... "I hate Orcs."

Bofur shifted his weight slightly, getting ready to move if Fili attacked without warning. He recognized the intensity in the young blond dwarf. No one would be slipping away quietly, not this night. "Leave the ponies here, even swooping in we can't take up the merchants and ride away with them. Not with five ponies already carrying us and our gear."

Kili grinned, but it wasn't a happy look. It was grim and murderous, and he was ready for a bit of revenge. "With the humans, we outnumber them."

Tauriel shook her head very slightly. "No. None of those humans look like they can fight."

"Then it's a good thing each of us can take out three times our number of Orcs." Kili retorted stubbornly.

_But you're still injured_! Tauriel wanted to shout, but couldn't. Instead she bit her lip. She knew that she had much to learn about dwarves, and about Kili especially. But she already knew his pride. Pointing out that he was still hurt would only spur him forward. Instead she whispered something else entirely. "Mela, means love."

_Amin mela lle_. I love you. Kili's eyes widened and he gave her a heated look. "You tell me now?"

Tauriel gave him a private look of her own, heat in her own green eyed gaze. Her meaning was clear. If she didn't tell him now, and this attack failed. She might not get another chance.

Fili stood, outlined against the still present sun. He threw back his head and yelled "Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu!"

Down below them, the orcs froze from their celebrations, suddenly on alert. Two simply died on the spot. One near the hostages from a well placed arrow in the heart. Another by an arrow through the throat.

Bofur lent his throat to the battle cry of the Dwarves, following Fili into the melee as that one's first dagger found the chest of the human who'd just a moment before had been accepting his pay-off.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	16. Fighting

Dispassionately, Tauriel yanked her sharp blade from the heart of the human male. An arc of blood flew out, following the path she cleaved through the air.

That had been her first human kill. In 600 years living in the Mirkwood, she'd seen them once or twice. Brought a party of them before her king. But today she was spilling human blood. It didn't bother her.

In her head she was already swinging to bury her second blade in an orc's chest. Only to have him fly backwards from the force of a thrown dagger piercing his forehead. She blinked, silently acknowledging Fili's strength, knowing the force it took to throw a weapon through skull like that.

Tauriel spun, ready for anything. Her eyes narrowed. Seeing no enemies, she turned and scanned the area with much care. In her head she counted the bodies. Five human traitors and seven orcs. There was one missing.

A horrid screech had her head turning sharply, only to see an orc who had been trying to crawl away in the tall grass, die. It's back was suddenly decorated with an arrow, pinning it to the ground. As she watched, Kili drew one more arrow for assurity, and shot the dying orc once more. This time in the head.

Her green eyes carefully catalogued everything about Kili. From the way he moved, to his breathing. He caught her look and flashed her a cocky grin. "Unhurt." He promised her.

She nodded, her blood still racing from the small skirmish. The orcs had been surprised and the dwarven fury could not be contained. Her bright eyes found Fili and she stilled. The blond dwarf looked like he was having a hard time pulling himself back from a killing fury.

Bofur too seemed to notice. He pulled his blade from the back of a dead human and sniffed the blood. "Doesn't stink like orc blood. I'd a thought that a traitor's blood should smell more like that of the creatures he was paid by."

Tauriel sent him a measuring look, but took her cue from the mustached dwarf. "I'm not sure if it is the orc blood that stinks, or they are so malodorous on their own that we can not smell their blood properly."

Fili growled, spinning around again, his grip white with pressure as he held his knives. "More."

Kili chuckled without humor, yanking arrows free from their targets. When one orc groaned, he frowned and stabbed the arrow back down into it's neck. The groaning stopped. "We've run out of orcs."

One of the merchants approached, an elderly human male with stained travel clothing. However poor the man looked, Tauriel could see that the stitching was fine and even and the cloth of good quality. Prosperous then. She watched the human studiously ignore the bodies of the fallen. "You have our thanks."

A large human female snarled and marched up, striking the merchant on the back of his balding head. "They have more than our thanks, you fool!" She hissed, giving the she-elf a bow and then turning and making the same gesture to each of the dwarves.

Tauriel gave a small half-nod.

"They may want paying." The first merchant protested, rubbing his head woefully.

"I am Mirrenda of Brookshire." The woman said to those that had rescued them. "And we can pay."

The male merchant looked at her with shock. "They may want more than we have! What if they're worse than ..." He waved his hands at the dead bodies.

Bofur's eyebrows rose. "Worse than orcs willing to eat'n you?" He sounded incredulous.

Fili gave a deep rumbling growl, making the humans shuffle their feet nervously.

Bofur shrugged helplessly. "Don't mind the laddie. He, well ...we hate orcs and wish we could have killed more."

A short cloaked figure that Tauriel had taken at first for a human adolescent, pointed south. "They sent scouts that way. They weren't happy to go and leave 'fresh meat'. But said they'd be back with their main group." The voice sounded too rich for a youth, she thought.

Fili's lips curled into an evil grin, his eyes sparking with violence in the offing. "Good." His voice rolled deep with dark promise.

"Not good'n." Bofur disagreed, looking around. "This place be too open. We don't know their numbers."

Kili nodded reluctantly, replacing his cleaned arrows back into his quiver as he inspected them for damage. "Not defensible here."

"We can win." Fili asserted, not wanting to give away a chance at even minor vengeance for himself ...for Thorin.

Tauriel looked over at the huddled humans. Older, out of shape merchants of both genders. Two teenage boys and a cloaked figure too small for an adult. She looked down at the work boots and pants, nodding. Dwarf most likely.

"Brookshire is close?" Bofur asked hopefully, not happy with the setting sun.

The humans shrugged. "Not far with horses, but the Orc scouts took ours back with them to their group. Ten miles or so." Mirrenda said apologetically, her face showing clearly that she wanted to be away from here before any could return.

"Bofur, you take them on. Kili and I will ..."

"I want to go too." The cloaked figure stated harshly. "They killed my master."

Tauriel glanced over at the bodies of the two dead guards.

Mirrenda shook her head, swallowing as she had to tell the distasteful. "The master baker was killed in the fight, they took his body ...for ... for ...well, this is ...was, his apprentice."

Bofur's lips twisted in a sneer. It didn't have to be said, the body had been taken as meat. Dinner.

Tauriel firmed her lips, knowing that her words would not be easy to swallow. "We have to get these people safe to their town, we can't leave them here on their own."

Fili snarled in denial. Kili looked unsure, watching his love and his brother both. The younger dwarf was obviously torn in his desires.

Bofur cleared his throat. "Laddie ..." He let his voice trail off.

The blond dwarf stamped his boot on the hard ground, his own feelings raging inside of him. It was very clear that he wasn't happy not chasing down the orcs and killing every last one of them.

"If you are lucky, they will come after us." Tauriel said gently. "Then you can kill all you want."

Fili sighed unhappily, but the awful tension holding him seemed to flow away as he stalked to his victims and retrieved his blades.

Bofur looked over at the she-elf and winked at her for saying just the right thing.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Brookshire has a wall?" Bofur asked, walking beside his pony, leading it on the pathway.

Mirrenda nodded and walked beside him, seemingly at ease with the height difference. "Grand walls." She grimaced a bit. "And I thought good guards." She was huffing a bit as she spoke, showing she wasn't used to this kind of pace. But then, it was dark and there were orcs out and about.

"Don't know why we had to leave our goods." A portly human with stooped shoulders muttered from somewhere behind them.

"Because we're in a hurry. Better to lose the goods than our lives." The baker's apprentice snapped back at the man, irritated. "Damn moon."

The human huffed, clearly affronted. "The moon shows us where we're going. I, for one, am grateful."

The hooded dwarf coughed in disbelief. "The moon shows our position to those who would kill and eat us."

Impressed, Bofur decided to try something. "Bahyuralh humundun." He said very quietly, slipping into Khuzdul in an almost whisper.

The cloaked figure's step hesitated a second, but then continued as if nothing were amiss. Finally, a small nod that showed the hint of a soft beard and young skin. Bofur smiled satisfied. A young dwarf apprentice-baker. Unlikely to be on his own at such an age. At least one dwarven family was in close proximity.

"Orcs have harried us from time to time along the trade routes, but it's been much worse lately. Nothing like today though, nothing like today." Mirrenda shuddered. "Poor Dorn, that was the master baker."

Bofur nodded, to show he was listening. Dorn. Definitely a dwarven name. And a master baker, well, that was fitting. Dwarves felt that any craft worth doing was worth doing well. Elves seemed to think they were so high and mighty with their wines and fine green meals, but it couldn't hold a candle to good dwarven ale masters or chefs.

"Teldu here is a good apprentice, but the lad has a lot more to learn. His uncle was a true master." Mirrenda continued, oblivious when Bofur nearly tripped over his own feet.

The mustached dwarf didn't dare look back at the cloaked figure just behind him. He smiled and felt a lot better about heading to this Brookshire. Teldu huh? Well'n good. Let the humans think the apprentice was a lad. Soft beard and youthful skin aside, Teldu was a female name.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili brought up the rear, keeping a careful watch. Listening to every sound, or lack of sound. He said nothing as his brother slowed down to match his pace.

Kili watched his older sibling and then looked back as well. "Anything?"

"No." The word was clipped and short with temper. It also showed how disappointed he was.

Kili glanced ahead at the lithe form in the middle of all the humans. Her red-hair gleamed under the light of the moon. He frowned, it made her a clear target. "She should have a veil."

The blond dwarf snorted, some of his fury from earlier finally starting to move into a slow simmer. "I dare you to tell her that."

"I will." Kili retorted. "She's reasonable."

"She's a half-wit." Fili teased. "She married you, didn't she? Clearly insane."

The dark-haired dwarf fell silent for a long moment, comfortable in the company of his older brother. And yet on edge. Fili thought he knew why. "We can come back out and go orc hunting once we've seen these Men to their town."

"Tauriel says the cloaked one is probably a dwarf." Kili pointed out randomly.

Startled, Fili looked up the column, but made out nothing from the figure indicated. "Huh." Was his only comment. But inside he was startled. It wasn't good that he'd been so focused on bloodlust that he'd missed sensing another of their race.

Kili scratched his chin and looked around as if bored. Fili's attention was immediately caught. He knew his brother's mannerisms better than any. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't have a craft."

Fili nodded slowly. He didn't have to ask why this was coming up now. Tauriel was the reason.

"You. You can blacksmith great weapons."

Fili snorted, interrupting. "No. Thorin wouldn't let me apprentice. Said he needed us. Trained us to be warriors."

The younger sibling squinted as he looked behind them again. "Killing orcs is grand and all, but ..."

"It's not a craft." Fili finished for him.

"Which doesn't matter." Kili hastened to add. "I'd rather have a weapon in my hands than a chisel, or do something like man the bellows."

Fili nodded and smiled in the darkness. "It doesn't give you something that you can go courting with."

Kili's shoulders slumped a bit. "Really? I hadn't thought of that." He lied outright.

The older of the two brothers shrugged. "You can become an apprentice. What do you want to do? Forge? Mine? Metalwork? Brewer?"

"Mmmm ...ale." Kili licked his lips, then shook his head. "I don't want to work for fifty plus years to make something when I want to marry her NOW."

"Then make her something now." Fili said unsympathetically, his mood still dark.

Kili looked shocked. "But then it wouldn't be good enough for her!"

Tiring of the conversation, the blond stopped. He stared at his younger brother and shook his head. "You already have her. Or she has you."

Stung, Kili also stopped, glaring. "Make up your damned mind! One minute you like her, the next you don't, then you do, then you're mad and ..."

Fili snapped, something dark grating on his very soul. And he knew just what to say to draw the most blood. "You're just like her pet or something. Following her around like a lap dog."

Kili's eyes widened with immediate hurt. He clenched his jaw tight and he turned, stalking away toward the others.

"Go ahead, run to her." He didn't know what made him say it. He didn't know what was driving him to hurt his brother so dearly. But he heard the roar of Kili's temper right before being tackled in the midsection as the two dwarves hit the ground heavily.

The punches they threw were real, but neither drew a weapon. Kili was the taller, but Fili was heavier and with all the strength from wielding bladed weapons rather than a bow. The two wrestled and punched, and Fili had blood running down his neck even as he settled on top of his younger sibling.

Kili snarled and snapped, while Fili leaned down over his brother, pinning his arms to the ground. The moonlight shone over their faces and Fili stilled. His baby brother's left eye was swelling and already darkening. And his teeth were clearly gritting with pain, even as he could feel the tightness in Kili's right arm as he was pinned down.

Fili sat up, letting out his breath in a woosh as the younger sibling took immediate advantage. Locking both hands together, Kili thumped the blond dwarf in the chest with all the strength he could muster despite his poor tactical position.

"Are you done?" Fili asked, rubbing his chest where it ached.

Kili threw himself to the side, nearly dislodging the blond sitting on top of him. "Maybe." He sighed heavily. "Are you?"

Fili winced and got up, holding his hand down for the younger dwarf. Typically, Kili ignored the hand and sprang up on his own. This wasn't the first time the two had fought like this.

"I'm sorry."

Kili froze in shock. That was new. He looked at his brother's face and felt lost. Fili never apologized. That was the way it was. Even when wrong, he'd make some joke of it all and life went on. "What did you say?"

And instead of saying something Fili-like, such as 'don't make me repeat myself' or 'I didn't say anything' ...the damned blond went and did it again.

"I'm sorry."

Lost and unsure, Kili looked around. The merchants had stopped about a hundred feet ahead. He could make out some of the faces watching them. Tauriel's was the easiest. "Did you have to sit on me in front of her?" He complained.

Fili sighed and poked the ground with his boot. "We need to hash this out fast, we have to get moving again."

"The humans need the rest." Kili temporized. "You were apologizing." He said it with near awe.

The blond smiled. Really smiled. And for the first time since he'd seen the Orcs he could draw in a complete breath without feeling like he was strangling. "I like her."

Kili frowned and glanced over at Tauriel. "I love her."

"I know." Fili sighed. "And sometimes I don't like her."

"Why?"

"Because you love her." The older brother shook his head. "Look, I know I'm not making sense. But, all our lives it's been me and you. Now it's you and her."

"You're with us." Kili said, feeling on unstable emotional ground.

Fili shrugged. "I don't know what I want. All my life, my future was laid out for me. By our dam, by Thorin, and ..."

"And now by you." Kili stepped up. "Look. I feel lost too. But you're right. I have her. But I'm not losing you, damn it. We're not looking to get rid of you. You want to go off, fine ...go off! But until you decide what you want ... shut up and stick close."

Stunned, Fili stared at his usually affable younger sibling who suddenly sounded as fierce as Thorin ever had. He realized that he'd forgotten that the same iron will and stubborness so typical of Dis and her brother ran through Kili as well. Behind the younger brother's laughter and wide grins, ran a stubborn streak ten miles wide.

"Look. I have an idea."

Kili stuck out his jaw, his dark eyes flashing. "Oh? If it's about Tauriel then I don't ..."

"For a courting gift." Fili finished quietly.

Kili's anger melted away just like that. He smiled, and despite the swelling eye, his good mood was instantly restored. The smile faded a bit and he watched as Fili gathered their dropped weaponry. "I have to craft it by myself."

Fili nodded, pursing his lips a bit. "Nobody says I can't give advice though."

The two dwarves walked back up the waiting group. The townspeople and merchants looked fairly done in, although they still had a few miles to go.

Bofur stood slightly apart from the group, looking vaguely disapproving. "All right then?"

Both brothers nodded, neither mentioning the new scrapes, bruises, or swollen knuckles. "We need to get moving." Fili said instead.

"We would have been, if not for stupidity." Muttered a certain slight person, cloaked.

Fili glared, remembering what his brother had said. Dwarf, huh? Not a overly big one. He wasn't impressed. "You wanting a turn?"

Bofur suddenly choked and looked away, drawing a questioning look from Kili. But the older of the three dwarves chose not to explain his amusement before the group headed out to continue toward Brookshire.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	17. Introductions

"Grand walls?" Bofur peered at the wooden structure surrounding the town of Brookshire. It was not in the best of repair.

Mirrenda, tired and still a bit in shock from the events of the day, nodded. She sounded both out of breath, and almost at the verge of tears. "See? Safe as could be."

Overhearing the comments, Fili stared at the walls and shook his head. "It's a wonder the town is still standing. The walls should be stone."

One of the larger of the merchants banged on the door leading into the town. A cursory request for a name gave them entrance into Brookshire.

Fili's eyebrows furrowed as he sneered. "What if we had you at blade-point? Did they not think to check?"

"You don't look or smell like Orcs." The cloaked dwarf commented dryly, leaning against the town wall, clearly exhausted. "Or at least you don't look like them."

Kili sniggered gleefully, catching the insult.

Fili took a menacing step toward the shorter dwarf, wanting to knock back the cloak's hood and then knock some sense into the lad. Only Bofur stepped in his way, making conciliatory noises.

Tauriel looked around the human town, noting that it was different from the only other human dwelling place she'd ever seen. This one had streets that weren't made of water at least. And there wasn't an angry fire-breathing dragon coming after them. That was helping to make Brookshire look better to her.

A group of concerned persons surrounded them, calling out to each other. Some in the crowd began weeping when told of the day's happenings.

"We'll have to set up an extra watch." A youthful male with short cropped blond hair snarled, his hand on the hilt of a weapon.

"Not you." Fili snapped.

Everyone stilled. Mirrenda looked a the blond dwarf who'd helped to rescue her and her neighbors, then over at a young man she'd known her entire life. Doubt crept in. "Six of the guards betrayed us to the Orcs. Bribed."

"Six?" Bofur closed one eye, counting in his memory of the day's events.

"Six." Mirrenda said with a deep sense of unease. "Five you encountered, but one was killed by Dorn before the Orcs took him down. Only Sered seemed shocked, and they killed him right off."

Unhappy murmurings from the crowd. Then people began moving away, parting as someone moved toward them. Someone not overly tall, but certainly wide and muscular.

"Da." The cloaked young dwarf looked down at the ground.

"Dorn's gone?" The muscular dwarf looked stricken as he cursed loudly and long. "We will sing for him later. Come."

The young guard glared at Fili, Kili and Bofur. "More damned dwarves."

"These damned dwarves saved your'n people, lad." Bofur looked unhappy. "And these people better'd think more than once about letting established guards back on these walls without supervision. Seeing as how six of your kind led to this attack."

The cloaked dwarf that only Bofur knew to be female, paused at her father's side. She didn't say anything, but nodded firmly.

The muscular dwarf stroked his thick gray and black beard and eyed the newcomers carefully. "Dern." He introduced himself. "Dorn was my brother."

"You're not going to let strangers on the wall, are you Mirrenda?" The young guard wasn't done complaining yet, it seemed.

Dern peered around the group and pointed to some young, stout males. He picked out six. "Take the first watch. We'll send replacements in three hours."

"But ..." The young guard seemed shocked. And he was stunned when Tauriel deftly slipped his weapon from the sheath at his side before he could even register her presence.

The she-elf handed the blade, hilt first, to Mirrenda.

Mirrenda, who seemed to be in charge, looked at the newcomers and nodded gratefully. "We'll meet in the morning?" She waited for their nods. "The inn is just ahead ..."

"They'll stay with us." Dern interrupted brusquely. "It's not an inn, and not fancy, but the food is decent and the ale plentiful."

Mirrenda shook her head. "You'll be mourning your brother, it might be best ..."

Dern made a flat, sliding motion with his hand. The woman fell silent. "We will sing. We will lift a tankard to Dorn. It is our way."

"Do you know them?" Someone asked hesitantly. Almost as if he expected all dwarves to know each other somehow.

The muscular dwarf shrugged. "Don't know yet."

Bofur nodded, suddenly unsure. It was a normal response for a dwarf. Upon meeting they compared names, relatives, friends, and stories. They placed each other in this manner, seeing where the lines crossed. And just now he realized, he didn't know how to respond to these unknown dwarves.

Fili and Kili were supposed to be dead. And dwarves who didn't name their ancestors or connections were immediately suspect.

His mind racing, looking for ways to get out of a night spent with other dwarves, Bofur sighed. While he was trying to figure out a way out, both Kili and Fili were grinning and accepting the offer of a good meal and ale. Even Tauriel seemed relaxed.

Damn.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Bofur sighed, barely tasting the good ale he was gulping down with far too much gusto. The venison was on the large metal spit over the large hearth in the kitchen, not yet ready. The table was plain rough wood, just right for a dwarf to jump on and give an impromptu song or dance.

Although dancing wasn't to be part of a night of meeting and mourning.

"To Dorn. A brother to be proud of, a warrior, a master, and a ripe old bastard to his dying breath." His brother wiped away an errant tear, unashamed of his emotions.

"To Dorn!" The rest of the group raised their mugs and drained them of the fine ale being served.

Bofur watched the crowd with an appraising eye. Dorn was joined by three other male dwarves of about the same age. Cousins most likely. Teldu, who had still not been introduced, was missing. And he didn't have to guess why.

Female dwarves were a treasure to a family. Rare. A source of pride, and something to be protected. Unattached dwarven males were known to come to blows, or even to draw blood, to gain the right to even MEET a female of their species.

Fili and Kili seemed oblivious to the 'lads' disappearance. But then, they didn't know what she was exactly.

"And whom is honoring us at our home this night?" Dern asked genially enough for someone who had lost a kinsman. "Who brought my child home safe?"

Bofur stirred, wanting to stop what was coming next. But the brothers, well, there was no deception in them. And pride would not allow them to deny their own names.

"Fili."

"Kili." The younger of the brothers grinned and pointed at the silent toy-maker. "That's Bofur. He's not usually so quiet though." He peered at their companion, and looked up. "Or so glum looking."

Dern's expression clouded a moment, as if trying to place the names. Bofur held his breath.

"Tauriel."

The she-elf's lovely voice drew every eye in the room. The four Brookshire dwarves eyed each other, as if unsure. "This is Anur, Brodr, and Boir. My cousins." Dern pointed at each of the other dwarves.

"Cleadeth." The voice sounded sultry, but as if practiced. The dwarf maid was lovely with smooth plaits in her red-golden hair as she stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen. Her facial hair was short and limited to her jaw line. It appeared both soft and shining and with the same pretty hue as her hair.

Shocked, each of the males reacted differently. Dern shut his eyes in consternation and the three cousins each sighed heavily. Bofur's mouth fell open and Kili grinned. Fili just stared.

"My daughter." Dern introduced them reluctantly, giving the three of them an evil look of warning. "Who shouldn't be out here."

Bofur caught his breath, looking puzzled. "I thought her name was Teldu?"

Cleadeth's lovely smile dimmed for only a second, before brightening back up again. She twirled, letting her dress flow around her ankles. "Pish." She said dismissively.

Dern shrugged and pinned Kili with an intent look. "I have two daughters." He admitted with great reluctance.

Fili's shock faded into a somewhat sloppy half-smile of supreme confidence. He only straightened up when the stern father's stare turned in his direction.

"A treasure beyong mithril." Bofur nodded graciously, and more than a little nervously.

The four male dwarves all nodded back, their expressions grim.

Cleadeth looked at the visitors, her gray eyes lighting on both Kili and Fili. She smiled boldly, obviously confident in her own charms.

Dern nearly choked and he swatted her backside. "We're not done in here, lass. Go."

"I want to sing for Uncle Dorn." She said, though Bofur was hard pressed to sense any great emotion out of her but for curiousity. The dwarven maid slipped around the table and slid in between Kili and Fili.

On the other side of Kili, Tauriel just watched without expression.

"Food first." One of the male cousins demanded, though not in a mean way. He jerked his head toward the kitchen. The lass pouted prettily, but followed him out of the room.

"She promised?" Fili asked boldly.

Dern made a face, but shook his head negatively. "Not a discussion for tonight."

"Just curious." The blond deferred the topic with a bland smile.

Dern nodded, but instead of starting to name his ancestors, as would be proper. He pinned Bofur with a long look. "I'm curious as well."

Bofur stiffened with a profound sense of foreboding.

"Fili and Kili. Brothers. I know those names." Dern's voice turned harsh. "I know your name. My cousin from my grand-da, he was with the Ironfoot a few years ago. Travelled through here not that long back, talking of a group of dwarves foolhardy enough to want to free Erebor."

Fili's voice lost the bemused sound, he straightened with pride. "Erebor is free."

"And Dain is king." Snapped Dern. "We're not that backwards out here. But you are either imposters ..."

"They are not." Tauriel interjected calmly, her gaze steady.

Dern and his cousins seemed suddenly unsure, glancing nervously back and forth at each other. Finally, the head of the house sighed, rubbing his full beard for a moment. "I owe you. For my child's life, if nothing more. And that is no little thing. But we will not follow you against the King Under the Mountain."

"We are not gathering allies." Fili said resolutely and with absolute conviction. Kili nodded in agreement.

Taken aback, the three dwarves again seemed to confer with their eyes. Finally, Dern shook his head, shrugging. "How?"

Sadly, Bofur held up one hand, stalling Fili's next comment. "The Line of Durin is over. They are dead. Buried at Erebor."

"You're not raising an army?"

Fili shook his head.

"They were grave injured, the both at the Battle of Five Armies." Bofur explained with a heavy heart. "Not supposed to survive those injuries. But the elves have healers beyond explanation." He nodded thankfully in Tauriel's direction.

"We lived. But our wizard and our dam both agreed that Dain would fight to keep the throne." Fili explained, his voice harsh with the edge of bitterness.

Dern looked unsure, not ready to believe. "You walk away from Erebor? Treasure and throne? Bloodlines and titles?"

"Civil war." Fili pronounced each word very carefully. "An Elvin Queen with the farsight assured me, there would be naught but fire, blood and tears. And not just for the dwarves."

Dern considered those words for a long, long time. He stared at his cousins and finally grunted. "I said I wouldn't go against Dain. But, I have to admit, I would be hard pressed to turn my back on Durin's Line."

The other two dwarven males nodded solemnly, their arms crossed.

"It would be a bitter war." Dern reached over and refilled his mug with ale. "But you give up much. What will you do? Did you apprentice?"

Fili grimaced and shook his head. "I can blacksmith some, not bad with weapons. But no formal training beyond that. Th ... my sister's brother was training me. Us."

"Fighters." Dern nodded, understanding immediatly. "Warriors." _Kings_. That word went unsaid. "Well, you have my hospitality as long as you promise not to bring armies down upon this town or my kin."

Fili nodded, more than a little relieved not to be rejected.

"FOOD!"

Tauriel started, suprised by the preemptive manner as Dern yelled back toward the kitchens.

Cleadeth appeared carrying two plates laden heavily with venison, bread and potatoes. She posed on the threshold for a moment, before gliding into the room.

Every eye watched her as she moved once more to slide in next to Kili and Fili. Right between them, placing the plates down before each one. "I'm sure you're ...hungry." Her voice was like the rub of silk, smooth and promising of things left unsaid.

"Lass, ye'll be the death of me." The dwarrowdam standing in the threshold sighed heavily, heavy ladle in her hand and of an age with her husband. She pointed to the tables and let the males bring in the heavy platters weighted down the large amounts of delightful smelling foods.

Dern beamed in her direction. "Me wife, Nurbera. And you've met Teldu."

Kili looked up and smiled in greeting, but his eyes were instantly drawn back to the stack of venison steaks.

Fili was smiling at Cleadeth, and sent a cursory greeting in the direction indicated, but that was it.

Bofur rolled his eyes. He smiled at the now uncovered Teldu, still dressed as a lad in working clothes. Her hair was brown, not the red-gold of her sister, and her curves were hidden beneath the blousy shirt. Her beard was a soft ruff. She was as quiet as her sister was flirtatious.

"You are a rich man." Bofur raised his glass toward Dern, who grinned, nodded and refilled the proferred mug.

Dwarves don't stand on ceremony too much at meal times. When the food is hot, it's time to eat. All the males started serving themselves.

Kili speared a thick venison steak and reached for the gravy. Tauriel arched one eyebrow at him. He eyed her warily, but when she didn't say anything, he poured the gravy liberally over his food. He reached for the potatoes and she didn't protest. He grinned and served himself a large portion.

Tauriel held out her own plate and Kili obliged happily, probably dropping more potatoes on her plate than she would have wanted however.

But when the dark-eyed dwarf reached for the turnips, the she-elf frowned sharply and shook her head very slightly. Kili's hand moved from the root vegetables and took the bowl of mushrooms instead. Tauriel smiled.

Nurbera frowned, having been closely watching her husband's guests. "Something wrong with my food?" She asked sharply.

Cleadeath glanced up at her mother's comment. She knew that she had Fili's attention, but apparently wasn't pleased that Kili was paying more mind to his plate. And an elf. Leaning away from the blond, she nudged Kili's shoulder.

"The turnips are delicious." Her voice hinted that he might find other things to his liking as well.

Fili laughed outright, shaking his head. "Something wrong with my brother's belly, not your cooking." He explained. "It was opened up by orcs none too recently."

Dern and his wife both nodded, instantly concerned. Nurbera pointed toward the kitchen. "I can make some broth."

Kili looked alarmed at the thought of losing his bounty and stabbed the steak with his knife, his eyes wide.

Tauriel shook her head, nodding graciously in the dwarrowdam's direction. "The venison looks extremely tender and delicious. I'm sure it will be fine. But the more dense root vegetables may be tougher for his system as yet."

Mollified and charmed by the she-elf's gracious manner, Dern's wife smiled. "I've made up a room for you. The boys will have a large dormer to themselves, I'm afraid."

Fili, not liking the way Cleadeth was staring at Kili, cleared his throat. "Tauriel will most likely share a room with her spouse. We guys can share a room, not a problem." He was being deliberately vague in order to shock and tease.

Bofur grinned, knowing instinctively where the blond dwarf was going with this. Oh, this was going to be fun.

Cleadeth brightened, if such was possible. "Oh! Another elf is coming?"

Kili shook his head, his mouth too full of good venison to talk.

Dern nodded slowly, thinking quickly. "Fine. We'll need to send word to the lads guarding the walls to let him in though. Teldu, go get me something to write with."

The quiet daughter stood, her plate mostly untouched. Obviously tired and still upset over her uncle's death.

Kili shook his head negatively, chewing happily even with a grin on his face.

Tauriel looked puzzled, wondering why Fili hadn't explained. "Kili and I are handfasted." It seemed simple enough to her.

Dern looked confused a moment, as if trying to decipher the meaning behind her words. Handfasting was a foreign concept to the dwarves.

Nurbera didn't pay as much attention to the word used. Instead her sharp eyes caught the movement of the she-elf's hand as she touched Kili's arm. And how protective she'd been over his healing stomach. How her eyes followed the dark-haired dwarf's movements. Her eyes widened with surprise. "She's your wife, lad?"

Kili took a big gulp of ale to clear his throat as he shrugged proudly. Nodding.

Fili and Bofur both laughed at the looks of shock among the dwarves here. Especially Cleadeth's wide eyes. Both of them nodded with satisfaction.

"Handfasted?" Dern questioned, still not quite sure of the word.

Bofur touched his heart and looked heavenward. "An elf tradition. But King Thranduil himself couldn't deny them. And didn't."

The mention of the Elven king of the Mirkwood had the dwarves holding their collective breaths in wonder. "You met him?" Nurbera whispered in shock, her hand going to her throat in wonder. "Is he as beautiful as they say?"

"Pretty enough." Bofur smiled sheepishly. "We were his guests for a time, each with our own rooms and private quarters. That'd be where'n these two love birds met. Well, in the forest first, then as guests of the king."

Fili nearly spit out his ale to hear their prisons described as such. Kili laughed outright while Tauriel took a deep breath, a bit bemused by the mirth of the dwarves.

"See'un? Tauriel here was a captain in King Thranduil's guards at the time. Now she be finding her way to make herself a fine dwarrowdam." Bofur slapped the table with good humor, drawing smiles from his listeners. Except for one.

Cleadeth frowned. "He's courting her?" She sounded disappointed and confused.

"He's married to her." Teldu spoke for the first time since being uncloaked. Her voice held a certain dollop of satisfaction.

"Well, truth is, he's courting her too." Fili fingered the beads hanging near the corner of his mouth. "Elven marriage, make no mistake, but it is binding. But he has plans to court and marry her in our traditions too."

Fili moved his feet swiftly out of the way, knowing his brother well. Kili's eyes flashed with temper to have the blond expose his plans to everyone. He kicked out under the table, but his brother was out of range. Cleadeth's chair wasn't.

The dwarf-maid shrieked in surprise as her chair jumped backwards a few inches.

Dern smiled with deep and genuine pleasure for the first time since hearing of his brother's demise. His sharp mind didn't miss the fact that these two really were princes of the line of Durin, not with an elven wife and knowledge of the Mirkwood. "And you lad, not taken with wife yet?"

Fili's smile faded a bit around the edges. He shrugged, thinking over his words carefully. "I was engaged. And it's not broken formally. But she knows me as buried, being kin to Dain's own wife. So I suppose ..." He let his voice trail off.

Dern winced, catching the implications quickly. "Sorry I am to hear of that, lad."

Cleadeth looked crestfallen. Two handsome young dwarves in her orbit and one wouldn't look at her for the elf by his side, and the other engaged already?

Teldu sighed, seeing her sister disappointed. "He's saying he's free now. His engagement ended."

"But?" Cleadeth was confused. "All he has to do is tell her he's not buried. Not dead."

Dern sighed heavily, knowing dwarven politics far better than his pampered and sheltered daughter. One who was far more spoiled than he cared to acknowledge, being the baby of the family. "He's as good as dead, and that's all you need to know." He announced more harshly than he'd intended, not explaining to his wife or daughters exactly who their guests really were.

Cleadeth's lip trembled to be spoken to in such a manner. Fili touched her hand to reassure her, and her smile lit up the room.

Teldu rolled her eyes.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**A/N: Sorry, lot of OC's in this chapter, trying to keep it to a minimum. But dwarves seem to come in clans or family groups.**


	18. Bathing

**A/N: Warning of citrus laden content ahead ...**

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Tauriel's green eyes were alert as she quietly watched the room full of dwarves. They were loud, raucous and without decorum. But their spontaneous songs held true warmth and grief, and although perhaps they were bolstered by large amounts of ale, they were honest in their feelings.

Dorn, the deceased master baker, was sung about in honor. His name was raised in rememberance and the stories grew bolder, braver, and perhaps even a bit on the fantastical side as the night drew longer.

"Tauriel?"

The she-elf looked up a the quiet call of her name, spotting Nurbera gesturing to her, she stood. Seated beside her, Kili looked up as she rose, his face questioning. Tauriel patted his shoulder before moving off to see what their host's spouse needed.

"Come." The dwarrowdam led her out of the large hall, down a side corridor.

Tauriel glanced back, surprised to see both Teldu and Cleadeth following her. The red-head frowned lightly. "Women do not stay for these mourning rites?"

Cleadeth scoffed. "Mourning rites? More like drunken stories and tall tales."

Teldu frowned, her face lined with the bereavement of the baker's passing. "I'd like to stay."

Nurbera shook her head, giving a sad smile to all three females. "Women can stay, it's not a gender stricture." She assured the tall elf. "But Teldu, you are about to fall out and should be excused. Cleadeth, I need your help in the kitchen. And ..." Here the stout woman hesitated a moment. "Tauriel, is that alright to be calling you?"

The elf nodded, surprised at the question. "It is my name."

The dwarf's face twitched slightly, as if amazed that she was on a first name basis with an elf of all things. "I only thought that you might be growing tired of hearing the men sing."

Now it was Tauriel's turn to be surprised. As a captain in King Thranduil's guard, it had been her duty to stand sentry whenever and wherever he directed. Including many boring meetings and entertainments. It had not occurred to her to ask to be excused. Thinking about it now, she realized that she had not been bored, and in fact had been quite comfortable. "Not as such."

"Or you might like a chance to get in a bath before we run out of time and the sun rises before we are done singing." Nurbera added in a rush.

This did sound appealing, after several days on the road and with orc blood stiffening her travel leathers.

"Oh! Do you use bath salts?" Cleadeth went from petulant to curious between one blink of the eyes and the next.

"Salt my bath water?" Tauriel asked, taken aback. "It's not for drinking or cooking."

As tired as Teldu was, the young dwarf-maid snorted in surprised amusement at the misconception. Even Nurbera lost some of her reserve and smiled widely.

Cleadeth was not deterred, however. "Then you use lotions. On your skin."

"Yes." Tauriel nodded, not understanding the connection between a food preservative and seasoning with something to keep her skin from cracking. But she didn't elaborate on her answer, feeling there was no need.

The dwarf-maid felt differently, leaning forward in her eagerness. "My lotions have milk and honey." She shared the information like it was a secret.

The red-head blinked rapidly, looking at the other females for guidance. "Really?"

"She makes it herself." Teldu murmured. "I prefer aloe. Mother makes it."

"A goodly and useful plant." Tauriel agreed, still unsure.

Cleadeth was becoming a bit anxious, not getting what information she wanted. "What do you use on your skin to make it so soft and creamy?"

Tauriel shook her head and shrugged. "When the weather turns dry, I use lotion to keep the skin from cracking. It is useful."

"No, I mean for beauty." Cleadeth waved in general at the tall she-elf. "You must add something to your bath water. Scent maybe?"

The red-head shook her head, starting to understand a bit more about what was being asked. But clueless how to really answer without offending. "Sometimes mint or herbs."

Cleadeth blinked, awed. "And that makes your skin so smooth?"

"No." Tauriel kept her expression neutral. "It helps take away scent so that when hunting we are not so easily detected."

The young female dwarf was not so easily put off, however. "You have to use something in your bath!"

The she-elf blinked twice and answered truthfully. "Soap."

Teldu actually laughed and turned away from the group. "I'm for bed. Sleep well."

Nurbera bid her daughter a good night, and reached out and snagged her into a reluctant hug. Teldu relented to the affection of her mother as her dam whispered how glad she was that they weren't singing for two lost loved ones this night.

Tauriel watched the two, glad that they had had a hand in bringing the lass home. Still bemused to find out that female dwarves had beards as well as the males though. That had startled her earlier when she realized that the apprentice baker was in fact, a she.

"It's not fair!" Cleadeth protested as her mother then prodded one daughter upstairs, and the other into the kitchen. "I'm tired too!"

"You didn't nearly die today." Nurbera muttered, pointing the youngster toward the dishes. She turned to the tall she-elf and sighed, eying her carefully. "I've had a hot bath prepared for you upstairs, come, I'll show you."

Cleadeth was wrapping an apron around her dress, pouting. She looked pointedly at Tauriel as they passed her. "Did you put a love spell on him?"

Nurbera felt her stomach drop at the rude words, her hand whipped out and cuffed her daughter's ear. "Do not bring shame to this clan." She hissed. The fine matron then shot a look at Tauriel, and reached into a container to pull out a handful of herbs. "For the bath."

Tauriel said not a word, just continued to follow the dwarrowdam up the stairs. The home was spacious and large, and clean. "She's a child." The she-elf offered the words hesitantly.

"A vain one." Nurbera nodded grimly.

"Do you think I put a love spell on him?" Tauriel asked as the dwarrowdam reached a door at the right side of the corridor.

The dwarf matron hesitated and shook her head a bit too slowly. Her voice was almost apologetic as she tried to explain. "We hear many things about the magic of the elves."

The red-head peered into the comfortable looking room, happy to see steam rising from the large bath tub that had been brought in. "We hear that all dwarves live underground and in caves."

The droll tone of the she-elf had Nurbera barking out a stiff laugh and a genuine smile. "No, some of us prefer a nice built house." She walked in and dropped the herbs into the bath water and gestured at the thick towels folded neatly on a sturdy dresser.

Tauriel sniffed the bath water, recognizing the scent of fresh herbs meant to hasten healing. "Many things can be bespelled, enhanced or enchanted. Love is not one of them." The elf dipped her hand into the water happily. "Nor do I have that talent. Those are things of the great Kings and Queens of old. Beyond us now."

Nurbera decided that elf or not, she might like this tall newcomer. "Have ye and the lad been married long?"

Tauriel shook her head, smiling at the warmth she sensed in the other female's manner. "A little over a month."

Nurbera lost her smile. "And most of that with him healing and you two travelling?" She guessed. "That's not nearly enough time alone for two just wed. Well, never mind that. You get a nice long soak."

"My thanks." Tauriel gave a short bow of her head.

The dwarrowdam studied her a moment, then smiled as she came to a decision and returned the nod.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Alone in the room, Tauriel eyed the rather large tub. It was a kindness, she hoped. And not some way to exclude her from the group downstairs. Yet she had not sensed any falseness in the dwarrowdam, who she thought she might quite like.

It took little time to strip off her stained clothing and hang it over a cleverly carved rack she guessed was for that purpose. Now that she was about to get clean, she could feel the caked on grime and the chalky feel of her feet. A hot bath was perfect.

She didn't want to wash her hair, but it had been too long and she could feel an almost-itch on her scalp from dust and sweat. Deciding it was more important to be clean, Tauriel didn't pin her hair up, but climbed into the tub.

The she-elf hissed with pleasure as she slid into the hot water without hesitation, sinking in. The heated water closed over her head as she let herself slide down for a long minute before she came up for air.

"Hello."

Her green eyes closed against the hot water, and her long hair now in her face. Tauriel startled, even though she instantly recognized that particular voice.

When she blinked the water from her eyes and parted her streaming hair out of her face, she found that Kili's dark eyes were gleaming with pleasure.

Tauriel stared at him and then a slow smile crossed her expressive lips. "Following me?"

The dark-haired dwarf sat down on a low stool and began pulling off his scuffed and heavy boots. "Dern's wife told me that you had a question for me. Sent me up here. Do you have a question?" His voice teased her.

Vividly, Nurbera's words replayed in Tauriel's mind. About how she and Kili hadn't had enough time alone together yet. "I don't have a question." Her voice turned gravelly with want as she watched her handfasted love begin stripping off his outer tunic.

"I do." Kili gave her a lascivious grin. "Want me to scrub your back?"

Tauriel didn't even think of looking away as her dark-eyed love begin taking off his clothing. "Dwarves wear too many clothes." She complained.

"No argument from me." Huffed an impatient Kili, his fingers trying to loosen the ties on his inner tunic.

She watched his clothing hit the floor one piece at a time. The red-head frowned. "There's a perfectly good clothes rack to hang those on."

He said a very naughty word and her jewel-bright eyes widened. Then she chuckled. It seemed her love was in a hurry. And truthfully, it wasn't only the water heating her blood as she watched him divest himself of piece after piece of leather and cloth.

Seeing piece by piece of his skin be revealed was an erotic sight. She watched his muscles bunch and release as he moved, power in those motions that seemed barely contained by his hair-dusted skin.

Finally Kili was down to one dark burgandy shirt hanging loosly on his muscular frame. He tossed his pants onto the steep pile of dirty clothes and reached up to unlace the ties across his chest. The shirt rose, giving Tauriel a peek-a-boo look at how much he wanted her. Her mouth went dry.

"I want to see you." She whispered darkly.

Kili looked up at her, only to freeze as he saw something in her eyes. Something that called to him down to his very marrow.

"Don't stop." She pleaded, her voice lacking strength but full of need.

Kili didn't bother with the ties after all, he ripped the shirt off over his head and ignored any ripping sounds that the cloth made.

Tauriel stared. He'd put on weight since they'd begun travelling, despite having only camp food. His chest had filled back out and she loved the way the muscles moved under his skin. She loved the soft curls of his chest hair that grew across each pectoral and then followed a line down his abdomen.

She saddened at the sight of his new scars that interrupted the flow of his body. Scars that hinted at fell wounds that had nearly cost him his life. "I love you."

Kili's heart, already racing, sped up further as he took in too much air in one breath. "Impossible."

Tauriel stared at him, slowly lifting her hand to him. Mutely asking him to join her.

The dark-eyed dwarf stared at his own personal treasure and almost wept. "You are heaven and I am earth. Elf and dwarf. Star and cavern."

"You are beautiful to me." She breathed out the words softly, still holding out her hand.

Kili shook with intensity of his love for her, he reached for her hand, but instead of joining her ...he jerked her close to the edge of the tub. Water splashed over the sides and her green eyes widened as they were suddenly face to face.

He kissed her. She kissed him. Who moved first was impossible to decipher. They were just suddenly sealed to one another. Water lapped a the edge of the tub, and neither cared. Tongues were entangled as he held the back of her head, his fingers speared through her wet hair. She held the sides of his face, his rough stubble erotic to the touch of her palms.

It was long moment later that both pulled back, their breathing labored and heavy. Their gazes intense. Kili suddenly grinned and climbed into the deep tub, hissing as the hot water surround him.

Instead of making room for him, Tauriel gave him no space but moved in quickly for another long and drugging kiss. Skin to skin, they couldn't get closer, but both tried as they ran their hands over each other. Exploring. Tasting. Exalting in the sensual play of flesh on flesh. Her breasts rubbing against his hair chest nearly made her cry out. Her touch, running up and down his hip and thigh had his eyes nearly crossing.

Tubs weren't easy to make love in. Especially not with the inherent difference in their height. Eventually they ended up with him standing, holding on to the tub's edge with Tauriel's legs wrapped around his hips. He held her weight easily, moving his hips with strength beyond measure given leverage by his hold on the tub's edge. Her arms held him tight around his shoulders and neck, scractch marks decorating his skin as his head was buried in the crook of her neck. Breathy sounds and moans escaping her as they brought each other shuddering over the edge.

"I think I drew blood." She whispered, her voice beyond hoarse, worried about his shoulders and powerful back.

Kili swallowed heavily. "Back is fine, it's my knees that are shaking."

"My toes curled." Tauriel sounded awed.

"The water's gone cold."

"I think most of the water is on the floor." She frowned, peering over the edge of the tub. Her red-hair was wet and hung straight down until it's length touched the water. From there, the red tresses spread out around the two lovers like a layer of silk upon the water.

Kili grinned against the soft texture of her skin. "I think you just tried to drown me again." He teased.

She balled up her fist and hit him on the shoulder with enough force to make him pretend to whoosh out a breath. His grin never dimmed. "We need to sop up the water off the floor." She moaned, not wanting to move and disconnect their bodies.

Kili seemed to feel the same way, frowning at the unwanted suggestion.

Tauriel sighed. "Not our house, and we don't want to be bad guests."

The dwarf sighed with regret as they each began to move. Finally out of the considerably cooled down water, Kili moved around the room unclothed and unconcerned about his nudity. Tauriel watched him with wonder in her eyes, until he tossed several of the thick towels at her. "For the floor." He teased.

Brought back to reality, the she-elf laughed lightly at her own expense and sopped up the excess water. When she looked up, Kili was holding a wide towel out for her and she stepped into him. He wrapped the soft cloth around her, but didn't let go. Kili rested his head against her chest and tightened his arms around her back.

Tauriel's own arms moved automatically around him, marvelling at the heat he was generating, and at how much she really loved him. "If you are the earth, how can you be so warm?"

Kili led her over to the bed, pushing her onto her stomach. Bemused she complied, listening as he went over to their packs. She could then feel him return and settle down, sitting beside her prone body. When the first touch came, she moaned. He was brushing out her hair.

"Sunlight heats the earth from above. But there is fire beneath the ground, make no mistake. Dangerous things live in the earth." He murmured, each stroke of the brush a caress.

Tauriel turned her head toward him, lazily opening her green eyes. He was still nude. Sitting beside her, she could clearly see his stong thigh and lower abdomen, his modesty preserved only by the way he was seated. It was a heady, and very sexy view.

"Are you a dangerous thing?" She mused.

He chuckled and she squeaked slightly as he gave her towel-covered backside a small swat. "Only to elf-maids."

Tauriel rolled in the direction away from him, the towel loosened and exposing her creamy body to him. Still holding the ends of her hair in his hands, it was long enough that it didn't pull at her.

"Just how dangerous are you?"

Kili's expression had first been him staring at her with his mouth slightly open. At her words, his lips turned up into a wide grin. Tauriel's heart sped up. She loved that smile beyond any treasure this world had to offer.

"I always assumed the light from stars to be cold." He teased her.

Tauriel's eyebrows rose as she tugged gently on her own hair, trying to move him closer to her. "Light is life. And calls life from the earth."

Kili nodded, letting her draw him closer. "Sunlight yes, but not the lights given life in the darkness. Starlight is a beautiful, but distant sight."

The she-elf reached out and did what she loved most. She touched his face. "There are plants that bloom only at night."

"Sometimes those plants are dangerous." He warned her, his rough hands running down the side of her body to her hip. His fingers curled possessvely on her sensitive skin.

"To elf-maids?" She guessed, her hands moving to his shoulders, drawing him in closer to her.

Kili grinned a moment before his lips found hers. "Oh indeed." He whispered against her kiss.

Tauriel lost her breath for several moments as he ran his subble rough face along her collarbone and then down to capture her breast with his mouth. Her head arched back, her throat white and creamy as she panted a bit.

"Then I am glad that I am the first elf-maid you met."

"Not." Kili's voice was nearly lost as he abandoned her breast to move to the other one. His hand moving to soothe the flesh he'd just let go of.

Tauriel nearly missed the word in the pleasure garnered from him suckling and teasing her body. Her hips bucked beneath him, and she was delighted to feel that he was wanting her just as much as she craved him. And yet, that word burrowed into her consciousnes enough to make her mind reconnect. "Not? Not what?"

"Not the first elf-maid I've seen." He said carelessly, his mouth moving down to the upper slope of her flat stomach, trying to nibble on the taut skin there. His tongue lapping at the silky smoothness of her body.

Without thought or command, her hand left his shoulder to gather in his thick dark hair, pulling him up so she could peer down into his face. "No?"

"You are the only one I've ever loved." He assured her, unalarmed. Kili gave her a wink. "Rivendell lasses can't hold a candle to you. Too sedate, too calm, no danger to them at all. It was all harps and flutes and looking down their noses at a poor dwarf prince."

She gave him a long stare.

His grinned widened. "I never even spoke to one. Let alone inviting any of them to search my pants."

Tauriel was teased into a laugh as she recalled his question to her back at King Thranduil's prison cells.

"They did have better accomodations for us though." Kili leaned forward, biting the skin just beneath her breast. Her lax fingers slid from his hair. "The company was pale though, compared to you."

She laughed with what little breath he left her as he delved into the soft skin around her belly button. His scruffy almost-beard was driving her to distraction, and she arched up beneath him.

"Better than the king's prison cells? Surely not."

Kili chuckled roughly against her skin and she caught her breath at the sensual feel. "The baths were bigger though, better. Large fountain that could take all of us. A bit open mind you, but fun."

Tauriel nodded absently, not really paying attention beyond the feelings he was pulling from her. It took several breathless minutes before his words even pierced her fogged brain. When it did, her green eyes flew open in shock.

Kili stared at her in surprise as she yanked on his hair again, pulling his head up so she could see his eyes. "Love?" He protested the interruption.

The red-head stared at him, her green eyes wide. "You bathed in the fountains at Rivendell? Bathed. With soap and everything? In the fountains? The ones dedicated to Eru?"

"We're not Orcs, of course we used soap." Kili blinked, his own mind still groggy with desire. "I don't know which fountain. Big fountain on the east with lots of levels and falls of water. It was fun. Held all of us. Had a grand water fight." He paused. "Well, uncle wasn't there or Gandalf. And Bilbo. But the rest of us dwarves."

Tauriel was so surprised that she gave a choked laugh more out of amazement rather than amusement. Then she was laughing even more as she could just about picture the looks on some of those Elvish faces sure to have witnessed such a scene.

Kili stared up at her, feeling her grip on his hair relax. He grinned, unsure why his story was so amusing. But he had other priorities at the moment. And he didn't like her distracted from his attentions.

Tauriel's laugh ceased as she felt his teeth on her inner thigh. Then his mouth and his tongue. Moans of pleasure replaced her laughter as his attention moved higher, to more needy things.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	19. Spring

Fili groaned as he settled himself down at the table.

Bofur grinned at the younger male and pushed a platter of fat breakfast rolls at him. "Head on a bit wobbly?"

The blond grimaced, but shook his head to indicate he was fine. "Am fine." He grunted, regretting the movement instantly.

A thick plate filled with eggs, the yolks shiny and wiggling along with fat strips of still sizzling bacon dropped right in front of him with a loud 'thunk'.

Startled, and with his stomach feeling like it was swimming in rough waters, Fili backed away from the plate as if it were an actual threat. He eyed the still intact egg yolks staring up at him, then he looked up at the person glaring down at him.

Dern's other daughter raised an eyebrow, as if daring him to say something. Teldu. His brain supplied the name a bit late. "Thank you." He swallowed hard, but refused to show that he wasn't sure if he was up to actually eating.

Bofur chuckled, tearing into a baked roll filled with dates. "This is delicious, lass."

Dern himself, sitting at the head of the table, grinned even though he himself was looking a bit pale underneath his dark tan.

"Leave us be, girl. Not a thing wrong with lifting a mug or two of ale." Fili said, his voice a bit condescending.

"Or three or four." Bofur agreed happily, with an added wink.

Dern sighed. "Five or seven."

"You'un skipped six." Bofur commented, still too happy for Fili's peace of mind.

Teldu sighed. "You passed six long before I went to bed, and then continued drinking until you greeted the sun." She stabbed a fork into a piece of ham and slid it onto Fili's plate with a not-so-sincere smile.

"Now lass, we were raising a mug to your uncle's memory. And the fact that your brother came home safe." Fili groaned, staring morosely at his plate.

Dern and Bofur shared a surprised look, and then surpressed grins.

Teldu's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I don't have a brother."

Fili nodded, picking up a piece of perfectly cooked bacon and wondering if it would stay down if he managed to eat it. Then he frowned. "The apprentice baker. All attitude and ingratidude. Snotty. Needs some manners knocked into his thick skull."

Bofur dropped his head sadly. Dern's face turned red as he fought not to laugh out loud.

The young blond dwarf-maiden listened with growing surprise, and temper. She reached for her knife blade and pulled Fili's plate away from him, slicing his ham into tiny portions with far more intensity than needed.

He watched her, fascinated by the small controlled movements. "Sorry, he's your brother. You can't control his actions."

Teldu looked up at him. For the first time Fili saw that her eyes were a pale blue, almost spooky looking. She narrowed her gaze on him. "I. Don't. Have. A. Brother."

Fili's brain was having trouble catching up through the fog of too much ale and not enough sleep. He peered over at Bofur, but found that honorable dwarf refusing to meet his gaze. He looked over at Dern, who was completely red in the face and shaking from the effort not to laugh. At him.

The blond looked back at the dwarf-maiden, who was showing him too many teeth. Random thoughts began to interconnect and weave themselves together. He blinked. Once. Twice. "You're the apprenctice baker?"

"The ungrateful one. All attitude. Thick headed." She agreed snidely. "And you're the one that's not quite bright."

Stung. Fili's mouth went to work without a filter. "Or you're not that noticeable."

Dern's laughter faded as he looked back and forth between the two younger dwarves. Bofur merely groaned and banged his fist against his left ear. "Oh laddie."

Instantly regretting his words, Fili didn't react when he was suddenly wearing his breakfast. Egg yolk dripped down his mustache, coating the beads woven in there. He cocked his head to the side and watched her huffy exit. "I think I just escaped rather lightly."

Dern choked and shrugged, tossing the blond a napkin.

Kili walked into the room with Tauriel, grinning happily. The red-head looked confused. "Teldu didn't look happy." She turned and spied Fili, stopping. "Did you forget how to use your eating utensils?"

Bofur laughed at that, nearly tipping himself off the bench pulled up to the table. Fili glowered and wiped at his face. Kili pointed at a spot on his forehead. "Missed some." He said helpfully, even though he was actually pointing at the only clean spot on his brother's face.

"You're late." Fili snapped.

Kili grinned, completely unrepentant. He'd woken up to Tauriel petting his chest hair and exploring his body. "I got ...distacted."

Cleadeth walked into the room, her eyes widening as she spied Fili's condition. She walked over to him with a big mug of something reddish. The pretty dwarf-maid batted her long eyelashes and patted her red-gold curls. "This will help you feel better."

Wincing, Fili sniffed and took a careful sip. When nothing bad happened, he drained half the mug. Burping happily, he nodded. "Many thanks. At least someone knows how to treat a poor guy in the morning."

Dern looked mournfully at his preening daughter. "That was my drink."

"I'll bring you another, da." Cleadeth promised even as she took the napkin from Fili and dipped it in some water to help him clean off the worst of the egg.

Dern considered both of his daughters for a long moment and sighed. "I count myself a rich man, having two grand and beautiful girls."

Bofur nodded sagely. "You are, you are. You also have my sympathy." He said with great mocking solemnity.

The head of the household sighed and shooed a highly reluctant Cleadeth from Fili's side, sending her back to the kitchens. Tauriel watched her go with an odd and arrested look on her face. But before she could ask any questions, Dern cleared his throat, obviously wanting to speak.

"Only a few here know your identities." He began slowly.

Bofur nodded, suddenly all serious. Fili drained the remainder of whatever hangover medicine he'd been offered. Kili and Tauriel both stopped serving themselves breakfast to listen.

"But you both are too well known, or at least your uncle was. The line of Durin? Any dwarves you are likely to meet will want to know who you are and who you're related to as well."

Bofur nodded, his good humor suddenly leeched away. "Aye. I've been thinking about that."

Fili felt like he was swallowing something bitter. "Yes."

Only Kili looked abashed, having not really considered that aspect of leaving his former life behind.

"Your names aren't True Names, the land be blessed for that." Dern said, startling Tauriel who looked at Kili in surprise. "But ..."

"True Names?" The she-elf asked, startling Dern who had for the moment actually not thought about the fact that she wasn't a dwarf.

Kili patted her hand, entwining her elegant fingers with his own. "We'll speak on that later." He said, frowning as he turned his attention back to Dern. "Changing our names will be easy, naming our ancestors though ..."

Tauriel shifted, uncomfortable with the idea of changing the names of the two dwarves. Kili's hand tightened on hers as an expression of comfort and reassurance.

"Aye, the history must be right." Bofur sighed as he picked at his last piece of bacon. Dwarfs prided themselves on their family histories, and they were shared at any given opportunity.

Dern leaned in, looking very serious. "Lads. I have an offer. The reason that I know of you all so much, is not only that my cousin was with the Ironfoot. But also that old Hamnar used to know your father."

Fili paused thoughtfully, thinking back to his childhood. "Hamnar Coppernose?"

Dern nodded as Bofur's mood lightened. "I knew him, a long time ago. He was old back'n then." The toy-maker said slowly.

Kili scrunched up his face, thinking quickly. "Son of Ham, son of Tamnar? Mam said he was foul-mouthed, but rock solid."

"Lost his leg to mining accident sometime after your da's passing." Dern told them. "Moved out here, and did some little digging to support himself. Good dwarf. Died two years back. Nearly two-hundred thirty."

Fili nodded slowly, his thoughts sharpening along with his appetite. He picked up a fat date roll, tearing a chunk off. "No children?"

"Whose to say otherwise? Old Hamnar served your father long and well, never had a bad word to say about him. So, what if he had two sons named after his old leader's boys? It's at least within the realm of possibility."

Kili brightened. "You mean ... keep our names."

Tauriel's sense of discomfort eased a bit as she listened. She didn't like the idea of changing their names, even if the reasoning was sound. Elves put great importance in names.

"And we already know his history, some of it anyway." Fili bit into his roll briskly. "This is good."

Dern raised one eyebrow and chuckled. "Tell Teldu, she baked it."

Fili frowned, as if the good date roll turned to sawdust in his mouth. "Nevermind."

"Probably safer to let that one be for a while." Bofur agreed, then turned back to their host. "You know Hamnar's ancestry?"

Dern bobbed his head in agreement. "Should, we were neighbors for years." He paused. "He left some land and a hole in the ground. The town, well, they weren't sure what to do and I told them that I'd see if any of Hamnar's family would be interested in taking it on. They hold the deeds until then. Well, what if I told them his sons had arrived?"

Fili leaned back, his mind calculating quickly. "Can't be that easy."

Bofur stroked his mustache as he considered every angle. "If dwarves they've known for years swear you are Hamnar's kin. Who would say differently?"

Tauriel frowned. "They would just hand over property like that?"

Fili shook his head. "Probably need to pay the back taxes the town would levy."

Dern nodded. "Yes. But there's a house. Needs repairing and all. But not bad. And a small mine, makes enough to live off of anyway."

Kili grinned. Tauriel put her hand on his arm. "You don't have to do any of this. Giving them a history and a house? Is it rude to ask why?"

Dern looked embarrassed a bit. He shrugged and then gave a big sigh. "I won't support them if they wanted to try and take on King Dain." He stressed the title heavily, making Kili flinch. "But ...it's the Line of Durin, ain't it? Can't turn my back on that. I thought about it long and hard, but ... Durin's Folk."

"We'd pay the taxes." Fili asserted strongly.

Dern's eyebrows raised, giving the younger blond a long look. _You have the money for that?_ And if part of him also wondered if the princely young dwarf had the backing to be a good candidate for courting his daughter? So.

Fili leaned back, his eyes going to the kitchen. Then back to the father. "I have no title, not anymore." Left unsaid was the assertion that all he no longer had was the title. He had the training, the backing, and the strength of character. He was rightfully the King Under the Mountain.

Dern pursed his lips. "You have Hamnar's name now. And his house, if you can claim it from the Council. Humans all." Left unsaid was that he was withholding judgement on Fili as a suitor for anything else.

Fili nodded, knowing he was basically promising to prove himself to this stern, but fair, dwarf.

Kili looked confused. He scratched his head and sighed. "So. Am I still Kili or what?" He stopped and gave a glare at his brother as a partially bitten date roll bounced off his head.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

A week later, not long after daybreak. Tauriel looked around the huge house with something akin to worry. Not that she'd let that show.

"Sound bones." Fili and Bofur were conversing, taking notes of all repairs that were completed, and those still to be done. "Railings are sound. Good and thick. The three steps we talked about have all been replaced already."

The she-elf reached out for the stair railing and felt the solid wood beneath her hand. Strong wood, sturdy and with no give. The workmanship was superb. Her fingers tightened, as if to steady herself. It had taken three days to argue with the town council, all humans. And to bring in several dwarves all swearing to Kili and Fili's ancestry, and rights.

Now they owned a house.

"Tauriel? Love?" Kili's voice, from somewhere upstairs. "Where are the room plans that I drew up?"

Swallowing hard, the red-head looked around, her green eyes over bright. Although the house was spacious and lovely, she couldn't help but feel nervous. She'd been getting odd looks in town all week. Disapproving looks.

Fili walked back into the entranceway, yelling up the stairs. "You should let your wife plan, not you!"

Foot stomping was heard upstairs, startling Tauriel. Fili caught her conserternation and grinned. "He's just testing the floorboards, making sure our repairs are sound."

A breath whooshed out from her lungs and the she-elf turned away from the blond dwarf. Quickly she walked down a hallway and found herself in the kitchen. Not where she wanted to be.

Turning, she pulled up short. Fili was right in front of her, his eyes narrowed. "Are you alright? You look like a songbird in a new dug shaft."

Brought up short, Tauriel stared at him, not understanding the reference at all.

The blond stared at her, noting her lost expression. "Uhm, nevermind. Look if Kili did anything to ..."

"He's done nothing wrong." She rushed the words out, appalled that he would even think such a thing.

Taken aback, Fili simply studied her.

"I'm not sure about staying here." Tauriel admitted reluctantly. "I know you, Bofur and Kili like the idea. And it's good to establish a new identity, especially since it allows your names to remain."

Fili relaxed a bit, putting her mood down to 'female stuff'. "We don't have to stay here. Yes, it's a good option. Nice place and helps us establish a new identity. But this doesn't have to be home, or permanent. We could just stay here until we build a house you're more comfortable with."

Tauriel shook her head, finding it hard to explain. She was a creature who knew her worth. Knew her place. The red-head was confident in her abilities and had held few doubts. "It's not the house, it's this place."

Feeling out of his depth, Fili pointed upstairs. "Let me get Kili." He offered.

"No!" She reached for him, her pale hand capturing his thick forearm in a surprisingly strong grip.

The blond stared at his brother's spouse, unsure of what the problem could be. "Tauriel?"

"Am I supposed to cook?" She blurted out that question, probably because they were in the kitchen. And it didn't touch on her true misgivings.

Fili scratched his belly and shook his head. "We just had a quick breakfast in town." He grimaced at the memory of all the negotiations and money he'd had to put out for catching up on taxes and ordering initial supplies to set up the household. It didn't touch on their treasure trove, but it went against the grain to spend so much so quickly.

Tauriel nodded, then shook her head. "Nurbera is a great cook, and Teldu bakes." She started.

Light began to filter through and Fili sighed. "Are you asking if we expect you to cook and clean for all of us? Yes."

Tauriel startled.

Fili laughed and held up one hand, stopping her from speaking. "I jest, I jest!"

The she-elf glowered at him.

The blond shrugged and tried to explain. "Cooking isn't gender based among the dwarves. Not enough females. Men cook, because, well ...we have to in order to survive. Nurbera cooks for her family because she wants to I suppose. Teldu's craft is baking, but she could have been a miner, a crafter, a jewelry designer, or whatever. We're not expecting you to cater to us."

Tauriel waved her hand around the room in general. "No. I mean, thank you. But what I want to know is, what traditions are there for female dwarves? Dwarrowdams? Am I not doing something that I'm supposed to?" She paused. "What are True Names?"

Suddenly serious, Fili paused and made a face. "Kili ..."

"Kili would tell me whatever he thinks would make me happy. He is teaching me Khuzdul, and that makes both you and Bofur unhappy." She pointed out.

The male sighed heavily and grimaced. "Not unhappy, just ... well, Khuzdul is our secret. Dwarven."

"And I'm an elf." Tauriel drew back to her full height, her green eyes suddenly looking dulled.

Ashamed, Fili swore and ran an agitated hand through his blond hair. "I don't think of you like that." He said, not even sure if he was lying or not.

Tauriel shook her head sadly. "You're not the only one to think like that."

Suddenly alert, Fili honed in on the hurt tone in her voice. "What happened?" He demanded roughly.

The she-elf shook her head and shrugged.

Fili glowered, temper rising. "Tell me, or I will sic Kili on you."

"Don't" It wasn't quite begging, but it was close.

Her words, her hurt, her worry all swirled around his mind until he settled on something uncomfortable. "Someone insulted you."

"Not outright." Tauriel denied the charge. "But I've been getting looks. Questions, such as whether Kili and I will live in the same house. What handfasting means. Not just the dwarves, but some of the human merchants as well."

Fili's eyes closed with regret. "KILI! Get down here!"

Tauriel's eyes widened, like she'd been betrayed.

"No. You stay." Fili demanded with the assurance of someone used to being obeyed. "Look. You're basically married. But dwarven traditions don't recognize handfasting. By Arda, I know I'd never even heard of it before. Men either apparently."

Bofur came into the room, hammer in hand. "The lad's outside now. Can I help?"

Fili nodded. "Tauriel's been getting comments about how she and Kili aren't really married."

"Well." Bofur looked embarrassed. "They're not."

Tauriel now crossed her arms, looking rather cross for an elf. "Handfasting is a fine and honored tradition. The giving and receiving of the Blue and Silver gift is beautiful!"

"For elves." Fili waved his hand dismissively. "Are you taking Kili to live in an Elven conclave?"

The she-elf opened her mouth, but couldn't think of a reply. Mutely, she shook her head negatively.

"If you live among the dwarves, then dwarven traditions might be the better way to go, lass." Bofur said, far more gently than Fili.

A bang on the kitchen door leading outside, had them all turning. Kili came in, trailing dirt from his boots. He stopped, seeing that all eyes were on him. Thinking fast, he knocked his thick boots against the wall, shaking loose the dirt. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Some are calling Tauriel's honor to question." Fili said.

It was as if something cold and deadly suddenly filled the room. Tauriel's eyes widened as she saw the deep pool of anger within Kili that burst into being. His teeth ground together audibly, while his hand settled on his knife. "Oh?"

"Seeing as how you two are living together, unmarried." Bofur seemed sad to impart that information.

"Who?" It sounded like a threat, rather than a question.

Tauriel looked at Kili, distressed. "This is not necessary. I don't care what anyone here says. We are handfasted."

Bofur nodded slowly. "What terms were those? Ten years together, either can walk away at any time unless there is a child. Then it just becomes a marriage?"

Fili shrugged. "To Men and Dwarves, that's not married."

"You agree with these people?" Kili's temper refocused on his older brother.

"Just explaining, and no I don't." Fili pointed back and forth between the two lovers. "I know your hearts. Only a blind idiot would miss it."

Slowly, painfully, Kili reeled in his considerable anger. While outwardly he was the more jovial of the two brothers, once riled, his killing temper more than was a match for Fili's.

"I'm courting her." Kili forced his hand away from his blade, flexing his fingers to ease the tension there. "I have a plan in place, by Spring."

Fili though, was thinking furiously. "I should have seen this sooner. Would have saved us all these hurt feelings. Look. Marry her now."

Kili glowered. "Spring. I have a plan!"

Bofur seemed embarrassed. "Might want to ask the lass, first."

"That's part of the courting!" Kili snarled. "You're ruining it!"

Tauriel looked disgusted. "None of this is necessary."

"Are you pregnant?" Fili asked, bluntly to the point.

The red-head hissed, looking affronted.

Fili continued, ignoring his brother's baleful looks. "If you get pregnant before Spring, some would question the child's right to inherit."

"Not the elves!" Kili protested, drawing a look of gratitude from Tauriel.

"Not living with the elves." Fili sounded far too calm. "Look. Do either of you want to walk away?"

The double look of shock and anger from both parties had him chuckling. "So get married now. Before we all move in together here." He pointed at his brother, who was about to protest. "You can still court her in the Spring."

Bofur grinned. "Handfasted first. Married second. Courting third. Why start doing things in the right order now? Avoid the problem, marry her in the Dwarf traditions. Shut all the whispers down."

Kili fell silent, his dark eyes seeking out her own gaze. She looked at him, unsure. "Marry me?" He asked.

She didn't even have to think about it, nodding. "I still say it's unnecessary."

Fili clapped his hands loudly together. "Grand! We have a lot to do today!"

"Today?" Tauriel asked, her throat suddenly dry.

The blond shrugged. "Well baby sister. We're set to move in to this house today. Unless you want to move into town until the marriage ceremony, then it's today."

Kili's eyes were wide with the implications. Then, he grinned fatuously. "Alright."

"Alright?" Tauriel stared at her love, feeling more than a bit rushed.

Bofur grinned at everyone equally. "Dwarven marriage ceremonies are not that huge a deal. You two could stand here and swear your troth to each other here and now and it'd be done."

The red head nodded slowly, relaxing as she realized it wasn't going to be a huge ceremony. In her mind she'd thought it would be full of traditions she knew nothing about.

Fili frowned sharply. "No. To stave off what Tauriel's been facing we need a few witnesses. Small party. Tonight, seven in the evening. Ale, venison, a fiddle, and a wedding."

Kili nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Don't have the ale or venison."

Bofur pointed at the dark-haired dwarf. "Go hunting. Bring back something good to throw over the spit. I'll take care of the ale."

Fili agreed readily. "I'll get the witnesses. I'm sure Dern and his wife would be happy to do the job."

Without another word, Bofur and Kili turned and headed out opposite doors. Tauriel looked from one exit to the other, blinking rather rapidly.

"Sister?"

Tauriel stepped toward the door Kili had just used.

"Sister?"

The red-head stopped as Fili caught her hand. "Let him hunt. We have things to do."

She nodded, still feeling unsteady. "What things ..." The she-elf paused, her green eyes focusing on him all of a sudden. "Sister?"

Fili blushed a bit. "If you'll have me. I know I've not been the most supportive. But ...only a fool would ignore what you and my brother have together." He gave her a charming grin, his dimples clear even beneath his beard and mustache. "Forgive me?"

Tauriel studied the young blond dwarf for a long moment, then decided to test him. "What are Dwarven True Names?"

Recognizing her ploy, and realizing that his honesty and veracity were on trial, Fili paused. "Oh sister, why that question?"

She started to pull away.

His hand tightened on her. He looked up, steadied himself with a deep breath. "Dwarven names are either Elvish or from the languages of Men." He said it with all the sobriety of a deeply held secret. "Our own names come from a dialect of Men from around the Blue Mountains."

Surprised, Tauriel stared, shocked by both the answer and the fact that he was telling her what she wanted to know.

Fili spread his hands. "Dwarven True Names, are secret. More so than even the Khuzdul language. Given by a parent, usually the father. These names are never shared, never given, and never written. The names we are called? Fili, Kili, Bofur, Balin ... these are not True Names."

"What about on tombs?" She asked, feeling on shaky ground.

"No, not even then." Fili shook his head.

Tauriel wasn't sure what to ask next, not really. "Does anyone else other than dwarves know they even exist?"

"Some things Gandalf has said makes me think he knows about our traditions. I'm sure that some Elvish scholars know. Men?" He sneered. "Maybe very few. Or none at all."

"Kili has not told me of this, or his True Name." She assured her love's older brother. "Nor will I ask." She promised.

"I don't think he told you, because truthfully it would not occur to him to do so." Fili frowned slightly. "Not until you two have children."

The thought of having Kili's child made her smile tenderly.

Fili blinked, unprepared for the unashamed emotion in her simple smile. He coughed and rubbed the back of his head. "You are a true wonder, Tauriel. And the biggest wonder, is how you came to love Kili of all dwarves."

"Anyone better?"

The blond shook his head and gave her a lopsided grin. "No." They shared a fond look, bound by the fact that they both loved the mischevious dark-haired dwarf more than anyone else alive.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**A/N: Any bets on whether this wedding will be as simple and small as they seem to think?**


	20. Invitations

Tauriel rushed out the side door, and nearly slammed into Kili as he stood there patiently. Waiting for her. He chuckled and took a step back to avoid a collision.

Unusually flustered, Tauriel pushed her long red hair behind her ears. Her emotional balance was harder to regain than her footing. Kili raised one eyebrow at her, obviously he was going to make her work for it.

"Tonight?" There. She managed not to sound upset, she hoped.

The dark-eyed dwarf shrugged deliberately, letting his grin widen. Tauriel swallowed quickly. She loved that grin, the one that meant he was teasing her or up to something. But not right now!

"You don't want to marry me?" He teased her.

The she-elf pursed her lips and shook her head. "You know that's not it. This ...this just is so fast."

"Fast." Kili savored the word, drawing it out slowly as if tasting the sound of it.

Tauriel's green eyes narrowed a bit.

"I seem to remember innocently shooting a bow and then being handed a certain gift. Boom. I'm married." Kili touched his left temple with one finger, then pointed at her.

The red-head sighed. "I was going to explain, but you'd broken your diet and then you were in so much distress."

Kili shuddered at the memory, still unable to face carrots without misgivings.

"And it was hand-fasted, not married." Tauriel continued.

The dark-haired dwarf turned and pinned her with a bold look. "Do you want to marry me?"

Drawing back, the love of his life gave him a doleful look. "You know that I do."

"Today, tonight, tomorrow?" Kili leaned in toward her. "You chose the time and place the first time. Now it's my turn. So. We get married, tonight."

"Kili ..."

"No." The dwarf laughed with delighted amusement. "Love, we are already joined by your customs. Tonight is for mine. Nothing changes between us. It's just a big party."

Appalled by his lack of understanding, Tauriel shook her head. "It's not just a party. It's a ceremony. One I know nothing about!"

Kili let his eyes go wide. "Oh! You want to know what to expect tonight? Ceremony details?"

The she-elf nodded, relieved.

The dark-eyed prince winked at her, shook his own head and put his hand over his mouth.

Tauriel stared, her stomach sinking.

Kili gave her an affectionate wave. "Just like when you told me about the Blue and Silver gift? So I could be prepared?"

"It is not the same thing!" Snapped the red-head in a flash of temper.

This only served to amuse Kili further. He threw back his head, laughing. Tauriel hissed slightly. He focused back in on her and sighed deeply, as if supremely happy. "I will give you everything I have. You have me, my heart and my soul. And I will give you the exact same amount of information you gave me before we became handfasted. Nothing."

Tauriel drew back in shock as he winked and actually walked away from her, laughing.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"He's gone hunting."

Fili glanced at Tauriel covertly, not sure of her mood or temper. Instead he looked over the baskets of breads and rolls. He tried to catch Teldu's eyes, but the young baker was ignoring him for other customers.

"He walked away from me. To go hunting." This time it was almost a whisper. And she sounded a bit lost.

The blond dwarf nodded, wishing his brother was here to deal with this. He raised his hand at Teldu. The dwarf-maiden let her blue eyes slide right over him as if he weren't there. Fili sighed helplessly.

"You are not even listening."

At this Fili's mouth tilted down into a half-frown. "Unfortunately, I am listening." He gestured widely around the shop, his outflung arm barely missing a human male. "But we have a baking emergency!"

The human looked askance at the shorter, but far more muscular and vital dwarf. He sniffed. But he moved enough so Fili coud see that Teldu was actually waiting on a human he recognized. Mirrenda. The Town Councilwoman turned and gave him a hard look. In return Fili gave her a full measure of his most charming smile, dimples and all.

"Master Fili Coppernose." She said dryly. "Acually, I'm glad to run into you. There is something I would like to discuss with you."

It took him a moment to connect his name with that which he'd purloined for himself. Coppernose was a damn sight far from being a direct descendent of Durin. So he was delayed in giving her a short nod of recognition.

"A baking emergency?" Teldu's voice dripped sarcasm.

Seizing the opportunity, the dwarf sidestepped the human councilwoman to focus in on something far more important to him at the moment. "We need a cake." Fili supplied quickly, before Teldu could pretend he didn't exist again. "A big one."

The young baker sighed and shrugged. "There are several on display. Hardly an emergency. Fool." She started to turn away.

"No." Fili stepped forward quickly, moving up beside Mirrenda at the counter and ignoring the other humans who squeaked out a token protest. "A wedding cake."

All eyes turned to him then. The blond dwarf made a large circle with both arms to indicate something round and big.

Teldu's spooky blue eyes clouded for a moment, before she straightened herself up to her full height, which wasn't terribly tall actually. "Da wouldn't have ...I mean, Cleadeth ...she hasn't ..."

"For her." Fili quickly pointed behind him at the tall she-elf who was still standing where he'd left her.

Mirrenda looked confused, as did the other humans. "I thought she was already married."

"Yes." Tauriel acknowledged. "Well, handfasted."

Fili looked smug and leaned against the counter, earning a glare from a slightly relieved looking apprentice baker. "Elf customs. Tonight, we're having a _real _wedding."

At this Tauriel's eyes sharpened and she turned them on a certain blond haired dwarven prince. "Real?"

"A dwarf wedding." Fili amended with a sheepish look. He turned to Teldu, all appeal and with his hands held up in surrender. "A big cake for a dwarf wedding."

Mirrenda's open face stilled for a moment, and then she nodded. "A dwarf wedding, only for dwarves then. Perhaps you could come by tomorrow to discuss an issue I'd ..."

Fili saw the human's expression and made a lightning fast decision. "No, not just for dwarves. Please come by the house. Ceremony to be at seven of the clock, but the party will last until ...well until the last dwarf, er or man is standing."

"Or elf." Tauriel spoke up snidely.

Fili laughed outright. "Oh no, it's your wedding night. You won't be standing." He said with a leer that caused Tauriel to blush heartily, drawing more than a few chuckles from those around them. Turning back to Teldu, the blond grinned outrageously.

"Your charm is wasted here." The baker told him with a dry expression.

"Charm is never wasted." Fili responded and drew a large circle in the air. "Make it a really BIG cake."

Teldu crossed her arms, looking horrified. "By seven tonight?"

The blond nodded slowly, dimples on display. "Well now, if you can't do it I suppose we'll ..."

"I never said I couldn't do it." Teldu interrupted. "But it won't be the most elaborate that I've ever decorated. It's not enough time."

"We can postpone the ceremony." Tauriel assured the baker.

Fili held up one hand in the she-elf's direction. "No we can't. Tonight. Seven. Best you can manage. Your reputation is definitely on the line." He winked at Teldu and turned away without waiting for a response.

Though he was pretty sure it was a sugar roll that hit him in the middle of his back as he exited the store.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Bofur squinted against the morning sun and then nodded as he saw Fili and Tauriel approaching. "Three kegs of ale, all set."

"Double it." Fili groaned melodramatically as he tossed some silver pieces at the other dwarf. "Add some wine."

Bofur caught the money, bemused. "Are we being invaded?"

Fili grimaced. "I sort of invited the humans."

"Which ones?" Bofur asked, his eyes going wide with surprise. Men? At a dwarven celebration?

"Uhm." Fili looked back at the store he'd just exited. "Well, there were a few at the bakers. Then there was the green grocer. And at the main market there were a few more."

Tauriel looked a bit bewildered. "I don't think he limited his invitations at all. I don't know how many are coming."

Bofur scratched his head, confused. "Er ...why?"

Fili ducked his head a moment, then jutted out his jaw. "Because I want Mirrenda and the council to strengthen the guards here. And the walls."

"So you invite them to my wedding, where you won't even tell me what I'm supposed to do or say?" The red-head protested with more than a little heat in her voice. "A wedding that I'm not even getting to plan?"

Bofur looked up the the pretty elf and made calming motions with his hands. "Brides never plan the weddings. Families do."

Shocked, Tauriel stared at him. "You're making that up."

"That's not'n the way the elves do it?" The toy-maker asked, surprised.

"No." Both Tauriel and Bofur spoke the same word at the same time, making Fili grin.

The she-elf put her hands on her hips, looking stern. "So even if I were a dwarf, I'd still have no say in my own wedding?"

"Nay. It'd be your'un ma and da." Bofur said this lightly, then went ashen. "Ah lass. I don't think I've asked. What about your family?"

Tauriel looked unconcerned, if solemn. "My parents were killed over two hundred years ago. The Mirkwood can be a dangerous place. I do have a brother and several cousins."

Bofur and Fili shared a look, obviously not wanting to pry and yet at the same time, nosy as hell. Fili broke first. "And they weren't upset with your leaving?"

"My brother lives further away, I sent him a message before we left the Mirkwood. My cousin isn't talking to me just now." Tauriel admitted.

Bofur stilled. "Because you married a dwarf." He winced.

Surprised, the she-elf shook her head. "Because I took a position as a Captain in the king's guard. And you're changing the subject. Why are we inviting the entire town to my wedding?"

Fili grimaced and scratched his chin absently as he tried to form his words very carefully. "This town will be overrun eventually, unless it's defended. But from what I can see the dwarves don't trust the humans and the same goes for the other way around."

Bofur nodded as he too considered the possibilities. "You mean we'un have to work together. Aye, we learned that lesson right quick back at ...the Mountain." He said circumspectly, leaving off the name of Erebor.

The blond dwarf pointed at Bofur to show he was on the right track. "Alliances. We can't stay separate any longer. Dwarves are strong, but we are a minority here. But most of these humans haven't seen battle, they don't know a thing about real defenses."

"I thought'n you were talking to Mirrenda about fortifying the walls of this town." Bofur said.

Fili's head nodded in agreement. "I was, I am ...and I'm hoping that she's agreeing with me. The esteemed councilwoman did say she wanted to discuss something with me. I'm sure it has to be about the wall."

"And all this has to take place at my wedding?" Tauriel sneered, then paled. "Wedding. I'm getting married!" She still seemd upset. "Or not!"

Bofur and Fili both paused, perhaps realizing they may be pushing the pretty elf too far. "Now lass. You want to get married, am I not right?"

Tauriel's eyes flashed a brilliant shade of green and her cheeks were tinted pink with a fine hot temper. "Not today." Sternly, she turned to leave.

Fili moved swiftly, jumping in front of her, watching as she stopped and crossed her arms defensively. "I'm not chaning my mind."

"Aw, you already did." The blond pointed out with perverse pleasure. "You agreed. Now you're changing that fine mind of yours."

Bofur jumped up on a covered barrell next to the shop, letting his booted feet dangle. He smiled sweetly at her. She gave him a wary look. "You love'n the lad. We all know that to be true."

She could hardly deny that charge. Reluctantly she nodded sharply. "But we're already together."

"Is it fair that you get your ceremony and Kili doesn't get one?" Fili asked, his voice placating and smooth.

"Neither of you has gotten songs, or celebrations, or cake." Bofur looked at Fili quickly. "Ye didn't forget the cake, did you now?"

The blond shook his head. "On order. Challenged Teldu, she'll pull out something grand."

"You bullied that poor girl!" Tauriel accused, pointing her finger at her love's older brother.

Fili took a deep breath, his smile disappearing. Tauriel watched him cautiously. "Honesty here, sister. By dwarven, and human, standards you two aren't really married. We're taking care of that. Tonight."

"That means nothing to me." Tauriel insisted.

"It does to Kili." The older brother let those words drop in heavily like a weight from a great height.

The she-elf shook her head, hoping to deny it.

But Fili was not to be denied. "Kili has plans to court you, you know that. He wouldn't do that ...if he actually FELT married."

Tauriel felt the sting of truth behind his words and she actually shivered.

"My brother." Fili grinned at the thought of the irrepressible younger dwarf. "He was audacious enough to fall in love with you. I don't even know if you understand. My uncle HATED elves. He would never have allowed this."

She caught her breath, holding it almost painfully.

"Uncle would have killed Kili before allowing such a match. And I would have died first, protecting my brother of course."

Bofur nodded sadly, pointing at Fili in emphasis of the lad's words.

"Kili didn't care." The older of the brothers continued. "He was on his way to tell uncle anyway when we were interrupted by small matters of invading armies, declarations of war, and then orcs."

"A lot of orcs." The toy-maker pointed out in great sorrow. "Times a lot more orcs and goblins and trolls."

"I love him too." Tauriel stated simply.

Fili nodded, the ends of his mouth moving into a smile. "Left your kin and your king. I have no doubt you're in love."

Bofur couldn't contain himself any longer, he jumped down off the barrell perch. He planted himself almost pugnatiously in front of the red-headed elf. "You love him. He loves you. Marry the boy!"

"I did!" She hissed, not even bothering to explain about handfasting again.

"Marry him again!" Bofur insisted. "Make it legal for three races and not just one!"

Tauriel looked toward the sky and the males knew they'd won. They shared a look of triumph until she glanced back down at them and they managed to look almost humble.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	21. Judgement

Tauriel sniffed the air as she walked back into the kitchen in what she supposed was her new home. They were moving in today. They were having guests over today.

She was getting married today.

She looked around the kitchen, expecting a huge mess. When the she had left to buy some last minute items, Fili and Bofur had been about to start cooking the wedding dinner.

Her eyebrows rose with surprise. There were masses of cleaned and prepared vegetables roughly chopped for roasting. There were covered bowls that when she peeked inside, held rising dough. Nothing seemed out of place or sloppy.

Bofur was stirring a large pot with some sort of simmering sauce. And her mouth nearly fell open to see Fili putting cookies on a sheet for baking in the house's brick oven.

"Lad come back with a nice big stag?" Bofur hummed to himself, adding a few more herbs to his sauce.

Tauriel shook her head, bemused by the sight of warriors looking so ...domesticated. "He's out there practically crowing. Found a large boar fattening up for the winter. Kili is cleaning it now."

Fili's head snapped up and a fatuous grin spread over his face. "Delicious!"

Bofur cursed, hanging his head as he pulled his sauce off the fire with some thick towels to protect his hands. "This is meant'n to be for venison." He mourned. "Now'n I have to start over."

Fili didn't miss the she-elf's shocked look and his grin only grew. "I told you. Male dwarves cook."

The red-head nodded, still bemused. "I thought you meant camp stews and things like that." She was looking at the cookies most especially.

The blond shrugged. "Mam didn't cook much. And uncle, well he could burn toast well enough. Mind you, this is not fancy cooking. Plain fare, but hearty."

Bofur laughed in agreement. "Not like'n what we was fed in Rivendell."

Fili shrugged with a sly grin. "It was learn how to cook or starve." He looked at the she-elf about to become his brother's wife. "You find the potatoes?"

Tauriel mutely held up the large bag as if it weighed nothing. Fili grinned and pointed at the wash bin. "Those need to be cleaned, peeled and quartered."

"Cleadeth can do that." Nurbera announced her presence as she entered the kitchen. "Tauriel and I have something we need to take care of."

Stunned, the red-head stared at the dwarrowdam. "We do?"

The younger female dwarf made no protest about cleaning potatoes. After all, this meant being in the kitchen with an admiring male. She glanced at Fili and then over at Bofur. Two males. She smiled becomingly.

Nurbera made motions for the she-elf to follow her, turning to head out of the kitchen and obviously used to being obeyed. Tauriel didn't hesitate, it was either this or peel potatoes with the dwarves that had been teasing her all morning.

Tauriel strode into the main room, noting that while barren of a lot of furniture, it was both spacious and clean. But not empty. The red-head stopped, staring.

Three dwarves unknown to her were standing there. All three were considerably older, with two having salt and pepper colored beards, and the last one completely gray. Each of the three was staring at her, as if mentally weighing her worth. None were smiling.

Nurbera wiped her hands on her dress, as if nervous. "Tauriel, these are the other dwarrowdams of the area. It is an honor they are showing you by attending today."

The eldest of the dwarves snorted slightly, as if she disagreed with Nurbera's words. "Huakil." She nodded sternly, then pointed to the other two matrons. "Tah and Rhaet."

Tauriel wasn't sure what was going on, but felt she was being judged. First off, she was shocked to hear that these three were indeed female. They looked just like some of the male dwarves she'd met. But glancing furitively at Nurbera's nervous features, she realized this was important. So she narrowed her eyes and memorized the names, making sure she knew the taller one was Tah and the one with the braids in her beard was Rhaet. "It is an honor to meet you."

Huakil snorted again. Tauriel's jaw tightened at the sound.

The three dwarrowdams circled around her, looking the tall she-elf over from top to bottom.

"Her hips are too narrow." Rhaet stated with disdain.

"No chest to speak of." Tah had a go next.

Tauriel's jaw clenched. At this rate she'd have an aching head by the time this meeting was over.

"No beard, of course." This was Rhaet's turn, obviously. "And her nose is so thin." She actually shuddered.

"No meat on her, nothing to grab onto." Tah announced dryly. "Bouncing on bones is never fun. The poor lad."

The red head drew in a long breath, hoping to calm herself down. Losing her temper now could be disasterous.

"This lad, Kili? Must have no pride." Rhaet again.

"An idiot." Tah agreed. "Blind foolishness."

Tauriel snapped. "I don't care what you think of me, but you will not put Kili's name in your foul mouths again or I might separate your viperish tongues from your bearded heads."

Huakil snorted again, but this time it lasted longer, and turned into a loud bray of a laugh. She looked at Nurbera, who was looking sheepishly pleased. "I wouldn't have credited it." She said, her voice raspy.

Rhaet smiled and thumped Tah on the back. "An elf with a temper. I'd heard that your kind were without strong emotions."

"You heard wrong." Tauriel's voice sounded a bit lost as she looked from one grinning, and bearded, female to another.

"I also heard you were already wed by elvish standards." Huakil said, her voice still a deep rasp, but much warmer now.

Tauriel nodded. "But not by dwarvish standards. We're taking care of that tonight."

"Ye pregnant?" Tah asked, looking almost hopeful.

The she-elf drew herself up proudly, stunned to be asked so personal a question by strangers.

Rhaet pursed her lips. "Looks like not. Ye be trying though, right lass?"

A pretty pink color graced the she-elf's cheeks and all three of the elder dwarrowdams chuckled knowingly.

"Cradles are usually handed down by the elder dwarrowdams in each community." Huakil announced with a twinkle in her still bright eyes. "What we give to you, we expect to be passed down to new brides."

Shocked, Tauriel nodded automatically. They were giving her cradles? "Isn't it a bit soon?"

Nurbera shook her head. "Dwarven tradition. These are hand-carved, and often have been in the same communities for many generations."

That was when the red-headed elf realized that these woman were going to accept her as Kili's spouse. And the mother of his children. She straightened and gave the three females a deep bow of gratitude. "I promise to gift the cradles to the next bride."

The three dwarrowdams all smiled, relieved that their offer was being recognized for the important gesture that it was.

Rhaet smiled, stroking the braids in her beard. "Well, not if they're still being used, of course. But hopefully they'll only be used one at a time."

At this, Tah frowned. "Do elves have twin babies?" She asked curiously.

The red-head smiled. "Yes, but not often. And it does not run in my family."

"You be wanting a nice large family though?" Huakil probed nosily, smiling behind her steel gray beard.

Tauriel nodded, relaxing a bit for the first time since this morning.

Tah beamed at the pretty she-elf. "I myself had five. Strapping boys, fine dwarves."

Rhaet frowned. "Don't be worried, though. Most dwarves have between two and three children." She looked pointedly at Tah, as if warning her not to scare the new bride.

But Tauriel wasn't scared. "I was hoping for six or seven." She admitted. "Elven families usually run larger."

All the other dwarrowdams stared at her. Finally Nurbera looked at the elder females and coughed to clear her throat. "She'll need the cradles a bit longer than usual." She said, her expression deadpan.

All the dwarrowdams then errupted into mirth and laughter, not to mention some ribald suggestions on how to accomplish getting pregnant so many times.

Finally Huakil clapped her hands sharply. "Well, lass. Are ye ready for tonight?"

Tauriel stilled, hope blossoming deep inside. "No. No, I'm not. I am not clear on what I need to do or say. Kili and the others have not been very forthcoming." She understated that a bit, and quashed any qualms she might have about sneaking around to get the answers she wanted.

Tah nodded at her, leaning back and giving the red-head another good going over. "Is that what you're going to look like tonight?"

The she-elf drew back, uncertain. "I was going to change. But I didn't bring fancy clothing with me."

Rhaet squinted at her and pursed her lips. "You look too elven."

"I am an elf." Tauriel pointed out the obvious, and the unchangeable.

Nurbera cocked her head to one side and smiled. "We need to braid your hair."

Tauriel's hands went to the long, straight fall of her red hair. "I have braids." And it was true, she had two thin braids at her temples, pulled back with the silver hair clasp that Kili had gifted to her as his handfasting present.

"Dwarven braids for tonight." Rhaet announced firmly, the other dwarrowdams nodded in agreement. "The hair clasp ..."

"Was a gift from Kili." Tauriel's lips firmed stubbornly. "I will not be parted from it." Her green eyes flashed with intensity. She meant what she said.

A bit taken aback by the she-elf's tone, the dwarrowdams all looked at each other. Finally, Huakil nodded. "It stays then, but do you object to braiding your hair dwarven style tonight?"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili walked into the kitchen whistling. He winked over at Bofur. "The boar is cleaned, cleaved and spitted. Ready for the spices and the sauce."

The older of the three dwarves nodded. "Fire hot enough yet?"

Kili shook his head, thinking about the great outdoor fire pit they'd cleared out in preparation. "Nearly. Give it another quarter hour or so. Just enough time to get the beast ready to roast."

Bofur grinned, grabbing his sauce and a large brush. "This is going to be delicious!"

Kili walked over to the washing bin to clean up a bit. Dressing out the large boar had been messy work, not to mention hot and sweaty work as well. He looked over at Cleadeth, who was cutting up the now peeled potatoes. "Welcome lass."

"Cleadeth was telling me about how pretty the town is in the spring." Fili said, trying hard to keep his tone even and not sound bored to death.

Kili could read his brother well, and grinned. "Fili _loves_ spring, it's his favorite season."

Cleadeth smiled becomingly as Fili shot his younger brother a foul look. "See if you get any cookies now."

"Cookies?" Kili's whole body turned, his wet hands dripping water onto the floorboards. His grin turned sloppily happy. "Ah brother."

Fili looked down at his vegetables that he was oiling and spicing. "Who says they're for you?"

Kili wouldn't be detered. He walked over to the brick oven and Fili took a handtowel and rolled it quickly, swatting at his younger sibling's hands to keep him from opening the oven door. "No!"

Cleadeth watched all this, unsure. "They're only cookies." She protested, wondering how she'd lost the focus and the attention so quickly. She wasn't used to being ignored by males.

Fili grinned at the mock hurt on Kili's face as he sniffed the air around the brick oven. This was a family thing. Long ago, their Uncle Thorin had arrived home after a short trip and had brought an unexpected treat. Raisin cookies. They'd been a gift to him, but Thorin didn't like raisins. So he'd tossed them to his nephews when he arrived at their home.

They were a completely new experience for the two boys. Kili, being very young, had loved the cookies. _Loved them_. And they had been the first gift that Thorin had actually ever given the younger of the two brothers. Thereafter Kili had begged and pleaded and cried and demanded cookies. But Thorin didn't have any use or time for the youngster. Now Fili knew that their uncle hadn't known what to do for two fatherless young dwarves, especially the baby of the family. It had been far easier for him to deal with the older Fili and train him up. Kili had been too young at the time.

Seeing Thorin train Fili and not him, had been hard on the younger of the brothers. And Dis, well back then she'd been grieving too. More wont to cuddle her youngest rather than anything else. Besides which, their fine mother was a poor baker. So Fili had snuck around the other dwarrowdams until they demanded what he was after. After explaining, they'd been happy to show him what to do. Thus, it was Fili who had made the cookies and had then lied to Kili, telling them that their uncle had sent them for the younger boy.

Eventually things changed. Kili had grown and Thorin had begun training him as well. The cookies had stopped, until Kili caught a bad cold from a stunt that Fili had planned and had gone awry. That's when the younger brother begged for those cookies, and revealed he'd always known who had baked them for him in the first place.

"I can make a great spice cookie." Cleadeth mentioned with false modesty, acting oh-so casual.

Neither brother looked in her direction. Kili leaned against the brick oven, staring intently at the door. "How much longer?" He whined, like he had for years.

Fili laughed. "Five minutes."

Kili groaned. "Too long." He lightly kicked the brick wall with impatience.

A knock at the door drew every eye, except Kili's. He was still staring at the oven. Bofur went to answer the side door, calling back to the younger dwarf. "Don't drool, it's unseemly, lad."

Kili growled out a foul word. "How much longer?"

But when the human male entered the kitchen, even Kili's attention was snagged. It was the young guard from when they'd first arrived, the one who hadn't been thrilled about having new dwarves in the town.

Fili made a motion at Cleadeth, and Kili moved in front of her. She was on the far side of the kitchen from both doors, the one leading to the outside and the other leading into the main rooms.

"What business do you have here?" Fili asked imperiously.

The young male looked down at his boots and then over at the blond dwarf. "My father wanted to thank you for inviting us to the wedding."

Kili's nostrils flared. He hadn't known humans had been invited tonight. His dark eyes flew to his brother, but he held his tongue.

"I'm Deven, by the way." The youngster thumped his own chest, wearing his guard uniform. "Dad said he wasn't sure what gift would be appropriate."

Bofur stayed where he was by the door, the boy's back to him. He glanced at Fili over Deven's shoulder and shrugged. How this boy was supposed to be a town guard he didn't know. Who let a basic stranger stand at their back?

Fili shrugged, focusing on the question at hand. "What would you give at a human wedding?"

Deven shrugged as well, looking uncomfortable as he shifted his weight. "Well, Dad said that he knew you'd ordered ale for tonight. So he sent me and my brothers over with two more kegs as our gift."

Kili's face brightened. Suddenly he wasn't as opposed to having humans at his wedding. "Nice!" He rubbed his hands together.

Fili nodded, pleasantly surprised. "Please thank your da for us."

Deven nodded, and looked down at his feet.

After a lengthy moment, Fili looked at Kili, who shrugged. Finally the blond dwarf cleared his throat. "Was there something else?"

Deven blushed, startling all the dwarves. Finally the human youth shrugged. "They said that you took out those orcs like they was nothing. That you could really fight."

All three male dwarves relaxed, hearing the yearning note in the young human's voice. They'd all been there once, wanting to hear about fighting from those who'd been there. Fili shot his brother a look. "Rescue the cookies."

Kili startled and then gave a little whine as he grabbed some thick towels before he pulled his precious cookies from the oven. They were perfect and golden brown. Looking like he was in bliss, the dark-eyed dwarf sniffed their aroma deeply.

"They need to cool." Fili warned.

"No they don't." Kili huffed, pulling one up with his fingers and then bouncing it back and forth between his hands and blowing on it.

Deven actually chuckled, watching cautiously.

Kili stuffed the still hot cookie into his mouth, making strange faces as he attempted to chew something that hadn't cooled down enough yet.

Fili pointed at a chair and then at Deven. "You wear your belt too tight, your scabbard isn't oiled properly, and you have let Bofur stand at your back this entire conversation."

The young guard blushed hotly, embarrassed. But he took the chair indicated. "How did you take on so many orcs?" He asked, his voice low and deferential.

"He had help." Kili spoke, crumbs falling from his lips only to be caught in his hands and stuffed back into his full mouth.

"Told you they needed to cool down." Fili snapped affectionately.

"What kind of help?" Deven looked so eager to know.

Fili grinned. "The arrow kind. My brother and Tauriel killed two straight out with archery. And I took one in the head with a dagger. Come in sudden-like and cut down or disable as many as you can, it's demoralizing. Even to orcs. Instills fear."

"Took one in the head?" Bofur chuckled, recalling the fight. "Embedded it more like, looked like the damned thing had sprouted a horn in the middle of his'n forehead."

Deven's eyes widened at the thought of throwing a dagger with such accuracy and force.

"Never underestimate surprise as a weapon, lad." Bofur added. He held up the bucket with his sauce. "I'm going to paint the beast and get him over the flames."

Cleadeth looked over at the human male, who had eyes for no one but Fili. This wasn't the way she'd thought the day would go. The handsome blond dwarf was supposed to be paying attention to her! Not talking battle strategies with humans!

After that, it only got worse. Deven's younger brothers had obviously been instructed by Bofur to bring in the kegs of ale. But when they heard what Fili was saying, they too pulled up chairs, eager to hear about real battles.

But it wasn't until the males started pointing out and showing off scars from various fights that Cleadeth admitted she'd had enough. Huffy now, she turned back to the potatoes. If Fili wanted to court her after this, he was going to have to WORK for it. She sniffed loftily.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili walked into the main room and stopped, staring. His usual smile with delight.

Tauriel caught sight of him immediately. Rumpled and dirty and sweaty though he was, he was exactly what she needed. Nerves and uncertainties faded into the background, even as the dwarrowdams circled her, making suggestions on how to braid her hair the best.

"Love? You're cheating." He nodded toward the four female dwarves, knowing that they'd share with her what was expected from her tonight.

The red-head did not deny the charge, but nodded toward his hand.

Kili whipped the last cookie behind his back and winked at her. "Nothing."

The she-elf gave him a soft smile. "Just as long as it's not upsetting your stomach. Not tonight."

Nurbera leaned over and whispered to the other dwarrowdams, more than likely explaining about Kili's recuperation.

"I'm sure a cookie or two won't hurt." Rhaet murmered with a smile toward the dark-haired young male.

Tauriel sniffed and shook her head. "I doubt he stopped at two." She said affectionately.

Kili grinned at his love and admitted nothing. He quickly introduced himself to the new dwarrowdams, his usual charming self. Those fine dwarven ladies all smiled knowingly at him, shooting amused glances from him to his new bride.

After chatting for several moments, Kili wrinkled his nose. "I'm heading out to bathe. Wouldn't do to knock over the guests tonight with my stench."

The she-elf looked at him, noting that he really did need a bath after this morning's hunt. "Outside? It's not cold out, but the weather is changing."

"Fili won't lend me any room in the kitchen to heat up bath water and the boar is roasting in the outside fire pit." Kili shrugged, clearly unbothered about bathing outside.

Tah made shooing motions at him. "Off with ye then. Leave us to help the bride get beautiful."

Kili stopped at that, flashing a brilliant grin. "Not possible. She's aleady beautiful. Make her any more so, and my heart would burst."

The dwarrowdams all smiled and nodded at the young male so obviously smitten with his bride. They shooed him away toward the main entrance to the house with jokes and teasing about the coming evening.

It wasn't until Kili opened the door that he realized that someone was on the front porch, getting ready to knock. A human someone. He nodded toward Mirrenda, one of the towncouncil members, and someone that they'd saved from orcs.

The dwarrowdams all settled into stoic expressions, all hints at their earlier humor vanishing. Tauriel looked around at them in surprise.

Uneasy by such regard, with all eyes on her, Mirrenda gave a stiff smile of greeting. "Your brother invited us, well me. Well ..."

Kili smiled with good nature friendliness. "And you are welcome, but a bit early yet."

Mirrenda blushed like a young girl, when she was clearly a matron and possibly even a grandparent. She held up a box. "I have a gift for the bride. I wasn't sure of the traditions you all have. But I wanted to show respect, but also a thank you for saving my life."

Subtle relaxation in the dwarves at the human's words. Kili looked back and forth between the dwarrowdams and his visitor. He knew that his race was secretive and select. He grinned mischievously, making Tauriel's back stiffen warily.

"Mirrenda? Do you know these fine ladies?" He then proceeded to introduce them.

Who was more shocked, Tauriel couldn't say. The dwarves at being introduced to someone they'd seen but barely talked to for years. Or the human, for realizing that persons she'd grown up knowing were, in fact, actually female.

Huakil watched until Mirrenda was speaking with Nurbera before she reached out and struck Kili's hip with quite a bit of force for someone of her age.

Kili looked unrepentent as he shrugged. "My brother is trying to convince her to strengthening the walls and the guards around here. A little trust with neighbors will go a long way."

The elder dwarrowdam narrowed her eyes on him. "Hamnar Coppernose's son? What does he know of matters such as this?"

Startled, Kili lost his smile. He gave a weak chuckle and shrugged, unable to explain that Fili was well versed in 'matters such as this' raised as he had been to be a prince by their uncle.

"The brothers know a lot more about battle than you might credit." Tauriel slid into the conversation at just the right moment.

Tah gave Kili a long look. "We know they know enough about battle to get sorely wounded." She sniffed.

Kili stiffened.

The red-head shook her head. "You don't know the count of the enemy, nor how many both brothers slew before being overwhelmed. It was a hard battle."

Huakil watched the she-elf carefully, considering the words given. And the words left unsaid. She knew something wasn't quite right. She'd known Hamnar Coppernose for many years, and he had never mentioned children. But she also knew Dern. If that fine dwarf had a reason to accept these two, she would so trust. The fact that there was a secret here didn't bother her. Dwarves were used to secrets, it was their way of life. "Ladies."

The dwarrowdams settled down as Mirrenda looked around the room curiously. "This place will do nicely with more life in it."

Kili grinned and decided now was as good a time as any to make his escape. He made his excuses and slipped out the front door.

Mirrenda relaxed a bit, now that the male had left. She smiled wanly. "Dwarves don't consider it a bit of ill luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding?"

Startled, the dwarrowdams shook their heads. "Humans do?"

The human woman nodded and looked at Tauriel. The she-elf shrugged. "No."

"Why is it bad luck?" Tah asked, her curiousity overcoming her usual retinence around outsiders.

Mirrenda gave a small laugh and shrugged. "I don't actually know, it's just tradition."

"We ring bells during the ceremony." Rhaet offered. "To keep evil thoughts and spirits away from new couples."

Tauriel blinked, another new custom. "Really?"

The human matron smiled. "In the west, I heard that they break a glass. How many pieces it shatters into is supposed to indicate how many years of bliss the couple will have."

Huakil snorted with amusement. "It'd have to be a big glass, dwarves live longer than humans."

Tah laughed outright. "There's not a big enough piece of glass for an Elven wedding then, considering how _long_ they live."

And there the laughter faded, as each woman remembered that Tauriel would far outlive her groom. Suddenly the dwarrowdams each secretly hoped that the pretty she-elf would get the six or seven children she was hoping for. In the end, it would be the only comfort she could look forward to.

Awkwardly, Mirrenda handed the red-headed elf a box. "Here, this is for you."

Nurbera tried to lighten the mood. "Do humans only give a gift to the brides?"

"No." Mirrenda smiled. "This is really for Kili anyway, I guess you could say. Go ahead and open it now, it's for tonight. Later tonight."

Curious, Tauriel opened the box and caught her breath. The silk and lace confection was gorgeous. She drew out the sheer white gown with a smile. "This is too much." The red-head told the human.

"Not when you consider you all saved my life, and many of my neighbors. Besides, I'm hoping to talk Fili into helping us redesign our town defenses." Mirrenda seemed happy to see the elf's appreciation of her gift.

Tauriel held the gown up to herself. It had clearly been made for someone of a shorter stature. But the length was still becoming.

Rhaet looked at the material and laughed. "That won't keep you warm." She teased with a sly look of humor.

Huakil snorted. "Sure it will. It will keep Kili close, he'll warm her up just fine."

Tauriel looked around the room. How had her life come to this? For six hundred years she had been content with her life, for the most part. Then meet a handsome, dark-eyed, laughing rogue of a dwarf in a forest and life suddenly changed.

Now here she was, with stange persons and strange customs and in a different land. Not an elf or a contemplation pool in sight. She pulled the sheer gown to her chest and looked at the laughing and teasing females around her.

Who needed a contemplation pool anyway?

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	22. Ringing

Fili eyed his younger brother with something akin to pride. The dark-haired dwarf was dressed in his finest, the dark linen a compliment to the supple leathers embossed with flecks of gold and silver. He raised one eyebrow. "You look ..." His voice trailed off.

"Handsome? Dashing? Irresistable?" Kili supplied with a sly wink.

The blond shook his head, pretending to inspect his brother. "Half-way clean at least."

Kili pretended a pout, but couldn't hold back his grin of happiness. "I'm getting married today."

"Not if she comes to her senses." Fili rejoined and headed toward the main part of the house. "Dern offered the loan of extra tables and chairs for tonight. He should be here soon. And aren't you dressed a bit early?"

The younger sibling shook out his hands even as he followed Fili. "Do we have to wait? Tauriel and I could marry each other and run off. You and Bofur could have a big party. Happy endings."

Laughing, Fili shook his head as both brothers entered the main part of the house.

Kili grinned like a fool when he spied Tauriel still with Mirrenda and the dwarrowdams. She looked so beautiful, all creamy skin and shiny and ...and ...tight lips? It dawned on him that she didn't look happy. Slowly his grin faded to a wide smile. The she-elf frowned at him. Kili's smile slipped further to slightly upturned lips. Her green eyes narrowed dangerously upon him. Uh oh. His smile disappeared altogether.

Fili nudged him sharply in the ribs. "What did you do?" He whispered.

"Nothing." Kili shook his head, mystified.

Nurbera cleared her throat, drawing the boy's attention. The youngest of the dwarrowdams, gave a them a knowing look. And it didn't look friendly. "So. Letting your bride enter the ceremony without any warning or preparation?"

Kili's back stiffened in alarm, his dark-eyes widening. "She didn't warn me!" He offered the excuse in consternation.

"We were alone. You and me. Not a house full of guests to be humiliated in front of." Tauriel snapped, her usually rich voice sharp.

Fili winced and side-stepped away from the target of the ladies' ire. He ignored his younger brother's quick look of panic and betrayal, not even bothering to feel guilty.

"Well?" The gray-bearded dwarrowdam demanded a further explanation. Kili thought she'd been introduced as Huakil.

His mind racing, and lighting upon nothing that would help him, he moved directly to surrender. "I'm sorry?"

Tauriel hissed with a sharp motion of her head that reminded him unpleasantly of a snake preparing to strike.

Kili frowned, holding up his hands placating. "There's nothing that would humilate you, I promise. Just some vows, they're not scripted. Simple."

"Did you warn her not to stand next the wedding bell?" Nurbera asked with faked honey sweetness.

"Er ..." Kili closed his eyes in misery, he had forgotten about that. Mentally he kicked himself.

Huakil's rasping voice was next. "Did you think to remind her to put out the symbolic foods to bless the union?"

Kili looked at his brother for help. Fili winced and nodded. "I have it ready." He admitted reluctantly.

"Something sour to symbolize that all marriages have to work together even in tough times?" Nurbera pressed.

Fili nodded. "Lemons. I bought lemons for sour." Kili pointed to his brother, nodding in agreement.

"Hmph." The tallest of the dwarrowdams, Tah, snorted. "And how about for salt, to show that there will be tears?"

"Salt." Fili announced.

"That's what I'm asking!" Snapped the matronly dwarf.

"No, I mean it's salt. A bowl of salt." The blond blushed slightly. "Salt is ...well, rather salty."

Nurbera sniffed, turning her nose up at the two. "That's original." She said sarcastically.

Fili and Kili both blushed. The older brother anticipated the next question and rushed to answer. "For bitter I have thistles." He gave a weak smile.

Tauriel still looked furious. Kili kept one eye on her, and the other on the other ladies.

Mirrenda looked a bit lost. "Bitter, sour and salty? You make marriage sound awful."

Nurbera smiled at the human woman. "The fourth symbol would be sweet. And it's the largest presentation at the ceremony." She peered disapprovingly over at Fili. "And my daughter tells me that you ordered a very large cake this morning, giving her no time to decorate properly."

Mirrenda startled heavily, her jaw dropping. "Your ...daughter?" Her mind was obviously racing. "Teldu is your ...daughter?"

The dwarrowdams all looked at each other wide-eyed. They weren't used to speaking with the humans in town except when doing business. Frankly, they'd forgotten to watch their tongues while so ill tempered. Nurbera gave a weak smile, though she wasn't happy with her slip of the tongue.

The older human female shook her head in wonder. "I've known Teldu as the baker's apprentice my whole life. She's older than I am, and I thought she was a lad this whole time."

"Well, she's just barely more than a child." Tah whispered. "Only seventy-four."

Mirrenda blinked, unused to having someone so old be considered so very young instead. "No wonder. I always thought he was too pretty for a lad." She smiled weakly. "I mean she."

Nurbera looked both pleased and embarrassed at the same time.

Huakil cleared her throat, her raspy voice commanding attention. "Aren't you boys forgetting something essential?"

Fili and Kili looked at each other, both of them completely at a loss. The blond shrugged and his brother frowned and scratched his head.

Tauriel hissed. "So, you were going to give me a ring and stand there and laugh at me when I didn't have one ready to give you?"

Kili's expression went stone still. Ring? Oh damn. "I wasn't going to laugh." He winced at the weak reply even as he said it.

Tauriel moved swiftly toward the stairs, turning to give him a hurt look, her green eyes flashing. "I think I'll adopt the human's custom today. I _don't_ want to see you before the wedding. And you'll be damned lucky if you see me AT the wedding!"

Kili watched her storm upstairs, not losing an ounce of grace in her roaring temper. He groaned, and then made to follow her upstairs.

Fili held up a hand. "You might want to give her a few minutes."

Kili ignored the well-meaning advice and took the stairs two at a time.

The blond sighed heavily, turning he suddenly realized that he'd been left behind. With four pissed off dwarrowdams and a human. All were staring at him. None were smiling.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili eyed the closed door with trepidation. His chest felt tight, but he forced himself to take a deep cleansing breath and slowly opened the door. His heart sank as he saw his love curled up on the bed. Her back was to him, the long fall of her red hair trailing behind her and falling carelessly in a heap from the bed onto the floorboards.

"I wanted to slam the door." She whispered.

A bit nonplussed by her words, Kili looked back at the door in question. "Why didn't you, then?"

"It's not something elves do. Ill mannered." Tauriel still didn't turn, he was left staring at her back.

Kili solved that by reaching over and slamming the door hard enough to rattle the frame and cause a slight echo down the hallway.

Startled, Tauriel sat up, looking at him a bit wild-eyed.

"They'll think you did it." He gave her a sad smile, then he pointed at the bed. "It's not large enough."

Tauriel stretched out her feet, and her toes grazed the footboard even sitting as she was. "You said you'd make us a new one."

"Bought the supplies. But ...well, the wedding took over." He rubbed the back of his head sadly. "I'm sorry."

The she-elf ducked her head, unable to meet his gaze. "You're right, I didn't warn you about the handfasting."

"What if I'd not had a gift on me?" He asked, having wanted to know for a long time.

Tauriel shook her head. "It could have been a poem or a song, a flower, or a lock of your hair. The fact that you had something silver on you was pure luck."

"Or fate." Kili gave her a warm look. "But it doesn't explain why you sprang it on me like that."

"I needed you off-balance." Tauriel admitted, looking somewhere near his feet. "I didn't want you to say no."

Shocked, Kili's eyes widened. He felt touched and humbled. "Never. I've loved you forever."

"You're a prince. I'm ...not anywhere near royal."

Giving her the gift of honesty, Kili winced. "My uncle would never have allowed the match." He admitted. "But more because you're an Elf, not because of your rank."

"I'm sorry about Thorin." She said softly. "I'm not sure I really told you that before. I know you loved him."

"Deeply." Kili admitted. "Still, I would have fought him to be able to hold you. I just, never thought you returned my feelings."

She choked on her laugh. "We're a pair." Bright green eyes looked up at him. "Is this a salt moment?"

Kili chuckled and shook his head. "We're not crying. I think it's more of a lemon moment. Sour."

Tauriel nodded. "I have a ring of my father's. It'll have to be sized for you, but I can gift it to you."

Kili's stomach rolled suddenly. "You don't have to do that."

The love of his life looked up at him, her eyes warm and welcoming now, all hint of temper gone. "I can think of nothing I would like to do more."

Humbled beyond all reason, Kili nodded around the lump in his throat. "I love you, my life, my heart."

She held out one elegant hand to him. He crossed to her, leaning in to give, and receive, a kiss. Nothing heated. This one was beyond sweet.

A tentative knock on the door had both looking up. Nurbera peeked inside, and appeared relieved to see them together. She smiled. "Forgive me. But if we're having a wedding today, we need to get the bride ready."

Kili nodded and turned back to smile at Tauriel. "Just, don't go near the wedding bell today. It'll be in the center of the room, just ...sort of go around it."

She gave him a questioning nod, unsure. "Why?"

"That's where all the batchelors will be." Kili grinned cheekily. "Unmarried females should just steer clear, trust me."

Tauriel laughed weakly. "Trust you?"

Kili leaned in and kissed her again before managing to tear himself away. He stopped at the door, letting Nurbera move out the way. The dark-haired dwarf looked back at her. "Trust me. Everything will be perfect."

Kili walked down the stairs, passing the females all heading up. He smiled at them all, they just about turned their noses up at him. He reached Fili at the bottom of the stairs and blew out a relieved breath.

"Wedding on?" The blond asked, stroking the ends of his mustache in a nervous mannerism.

Kili nodded.

"Forgot to get a ring, didn't you?"

Kili nodded again.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Fili leaned on the shovel handle, looking disgusted. "How deeply did we bury this chest?"

"This one?" Kili pretended to think about it, then shrugged meekly. His brother's eyes narrowed and the younger brother smiled, deciding meek wasn't a good look for him anyway.

The blond brother felt his hair slide forward and stick to the side of his face with sweat. He swiped at it with his forearm, leaving a trail of dirt and grime. "It's hot in here." He complained.

"Really?" Kili acted surprised, he was better at that than he'd been at playing meek. "It feels nice to me."

Fili growled sourly. "That's because I'm doing all the work. Tell me again why I'm doing all the damned work?"

The younger dwarf shook his head. "I'm all clean and pretty for my wedding already." A sudden grin spread over his face. "And you volunteered."

"That's when I thought the rings were in the first chest I dug up!" Fili sputtered, taking the shovel and stabbing it into the hard ground. "Why did we break up our treasure into differents spots?"

Kili looked at his fingernails, pleased that he'd been able to get the blood from the boar he'd hunted earlier out from underneath. "Should I buff my nails do you think?"

Fili gritted his teeth. "I'll buff you in the head with this shovel in a minute."

"Oooh! Threats." The younger of the two brothers jibed. "You don't worry me."

"No?" Fili's head snapped up, his eyes flashing with irritation.

Kili tilted his head to the side, never losing his grin. "No. And I'd love to see you explain any head wounds to Tauriel."

The blond stilled, sighing deeply. "Damn it." His temper riled, he delved deep with the shovel once more, bringing up a large quantity of dirt. He eyed his pristine brother.

Kili wisely backed up a step, holding up his hands. "Wedding." He reminded the blond.

Fili tossed the dirt onto his waste pile, digging the shovel into the hollowed out area once more. "When we purchased old Coppernose's property, do you remember Dern calling it a 'little hole in the ground'?"

The dark-haired dwarf snickered. "As far as dwarvish mines go, this one is basically just a hole. With long tunnels." He touched the rock wall beside him. "And at least five large chambers."

"Notice the horn silver over there?" Fili indicated the direction with his eyes and his brother nodded. "It may not be a rich mine, but it'll produce some silver. Wanna be a miner?"

Kili shook his head. "Not really."

"Me neither." Fili frowned sharply, sending the shovel once more into the ground, grunting as he dug up some more dirt.

Thorin had ruined them for mining. Training them both from just about the cradle in fighting, tactics and weaponry. Leadership skills had been stressed more than sniffing out deposits of ore. Though both brothers knew their way around the basics, this wasn't what either had in mind for their future.

"Sell it?" Kili suggested, albeit reluctantly.

Fili shook his head, making a face. "Maybe one of our sons will want to mine. I say keep it."

"Good idea." His brother agreed, relieved actually. It was in their dwarvish nature to hang onto what they held. Which only made it harder when Kili thought about Erebor. "Do you regret your vow?"

Fili didn't have to ask which vow. The one they'd both sworn to their mother, never to return to Erebor. Never to seek the throne.

The blond frowned, but was saved from responding when his shovel struck an iron bound trunk. He grinned. "Finally."

Kili watched with great interest as his older brother struggled to basically dead lift a hefty chest from a rather narrow hole.

Fili knelt next to the weighty chest and threw open the lid. "Please be in here, I don't want to dig up the fourth chest." He groaned.

"Stop whining." The younger sibling crouched down, careful not to put his knees on the fresh turned dirt. He poked through the treasure, even going so far as to pull out a magnificent mithril necklace with delicate dangles and wirework.

"No. Ring. You need a ring." Fili wiped his face again, leaving more dirt encrusted trails.

"We died for this." Kili whispered, his eyes both loving and loathing the treasure in the chest before him. "Have you thought of that?"

Fili rolled his shoulders, as strong as he was, even he could feel a bit of an ache from his labor today. "Not dead."

"You know what I mean." Kili's voice turned brusque, his expression dark. "Our titles are gone, our ancestry is now Coppernose, and ...this is what we have to show for it."

"We breathe." Fili exhaled heavily. "Our hearts beat. Our True Names are still our own. You're getting married today. I will marry one day. We will be fathers. For now, just forget all that we left behind and focus on what we've gained." He pointed at the treasures before them. "And I don't mean in that thing."

Kili nodded solemnly. "I can't get married listing a false list of ancestors. I will not name Hamnar as my father. I will not omit mam and uncle, or grandfather."

Fili stilled, wanting to discount his brother's feelings, but he couldn't. He felt the same way. "Bofur thought of that already." He admitted. "Says we can tell everyone that since Tauriel is an elf, that it wouldn't be right."

"But what about when you get married?" The younger sibling watched his brother carefully.

The blond dwarf grimaced. "Not something I have to figure out today." He pointed back to the chest. "Find a suitable ring?"

"No." Kili straightened, looking sad. "Must be in that fourth chest after all."

Fili's head dropped in utter defeat.

"Or not." The dark-haired dwarf held up his hand, a small ring held between two fingers. "Emeralds for her eyes. Diamonds for her spirit."

Fili peered at the ring closely. "Looks small."

"It's four carats, easy." The younger brother protested. "And I like the way the setting looks like vines and the diamonds are the leaves, they frame the emerald perfectly."

"I meant the ring size. It looks like a child's ring."

Kili frowned down at the lovely ring in his hand. "A royal child."

"Thorin?"

"Or mam."

"Or a royal cousin of Nain the First." Fili sighed. "Pointless to speculate."

Kili poked at the ring for a moment, his thoughts wandering far afield. "If we'd been raised at Erebor, we'd have been unholy terrors."

Fili snorted inelegantly. "We still are."

"Damn straight." Kili tossed the ring in the air and caught it lightly in his fist. "And Tauriel has long, thin fingers. This might not have to be sized all that much."

"Yes!" Fili sighed happily.

Kili walked toward the tunnel entrance. "Now you just have to rebury the chest."

Fili's curses echoed off the rock walls.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	23. Advice

Not in a hurry, Fili and Kili walked back toward their house. One brother clean and the other completely filthy.

Cleadeth watched them with predatory eyes from the kitchen window. She ignored Bofur and the human males still chatting at the kitchen table. The dwarf-maid twitched her mouth a bit, watching the taller of the two males coming toward her.

Kili was cute. That smile could light up an entire room. And his dark eyes were dream inducing! But he was completely tied up with that she-elf he was marrying today. Marrying. An Elf. Then again, he was the younger brother and had no memorable beard. And his bloodlines were less than impressive. Old Hamnar Coppernose had always smelled vaguely of linement to her.

"Ahem."

Her own gaze slid over to the elder brother, as if drawn there by sheer magnetic attraction. Ancestry was still less than stellar, and he wasn't as tall as his younger sibling. Yet there was something almost mesmerizing about the way he walked. As if the world belonged solely to him. Still, he was a nobody.

"Cleadeth? Sister?"

None of that really mattered when she was looking at Fili though. He was powerful. She could sense it in his manner, and see it in his form. He was broad of shoulder and thick with muscle through the chest. Something he gained from swinging blades rather than pulling on a bow, she supposed. And while his beard was well kept, at least he looked like he had one. And with all that blond hair, he reminded her of a lion she'd seen drawn into a picture book once.

"Ahem."

As if dazed, Cleadeth realized that she wasn't the only one looking out the window. Looking around, she was a bit stunned to realize that Bofur and the human boys must have left the room. "Where did everyone go?"

Teldu gave her a disbelieving stare. "They helped me get the cake in the door and now they're helping da set up the tables in the main room."

"Oh." Startled, Cleadeth gave a weak smile to her older sister. "I was distracted." The younger sister pointed out the window at the handsome brothers. "See something you like? I do."

Teldu gave her a measuring look and shook her head. "Mam would have your head if she caught you staring." She chided her sibling quietly. "And Da would not be pleased if he were in here either."

Cleadeth waved off the thought as having no consequence. Her father rarely scolded her, usually leaving discipline of his daughters to their mother. In fact, she was rather sure her father had never truly gotten over the reality that he'd been gifted with two daughters instead of sons. Not that he didn't treasure them, but that he wasn't always sure how to act around them.

"You're too young." Teldu said with a frown.

"Ta!" Cleadeth waved that off as meaningless. She wasn't too young, and only a year away from officially leaving minority behind. That didn't mean she hadn't been seriously flirting for years. For dwarves, physical maturity often came before cultural majority. "You're jealous."

"Of what?" Teldu turned away from the admittingly intriguing sight of the two brothers as they stopped to check the roasting boar hanging over the outdoor fire pit.

Something in her sister's voice actually managed to drag Cleadeth's gaze away from the male dwarves. She eyed Teldu for a moment, a bit stunned. "You actually are jealous." She said with some surprise.

"Irritated, not jealous." Teldu snapped.

Cleadeth's mouth firmed as she shot a glance out the window, seeing the Coppernose brothers heading toward them. "This one, he's a bit much for you. If you're interested in finding a husband at last, I can help you pick one out."

Teldu made a face and shook her head. "Spare me your leftovers." The apprentice baker snarled. "I could marry anyone I choose. I just haven't met a dwarf to measure up to want I'm wanting."

Cleadeth blinked her sultry eyes slowly, a bit surprised. "I just thought you didn't like the attention the males were paying to me." Completely ignoring the fact that she'd actively tried to flirt with any male that came near their house for simply years. Especially the ones that had come to call on her sister.

Teldu gave a weak shrug. "If they are too shallow to see beauty over substance and recognize worth for what it is, then I don't care to entertain them."

Shallow? Cleadeth's eyes narrowed with temper. Only the clatter of the returning Coppernose brothers managed to wipe the sharp frown lines from her face. Cleadeth spun, pasting a bright smile on. A pleasant greeting was always a good start in any relationship. And despite Fili's ignoring of her earlier, she was now triply determined to win his approval.

Her smile only dipped slightly as her eyes widened at the state of Fili's cleanliness. "What happened?"

The blond dwarf scratched absently at his short beard, letting a puff of dust and dirt fall carelessly around him. "Busy." Was his only answer.

"Go outside and clean off before you step into this kitchen." Teldu snapped at him.

Fili's eyes narrowed on the older daughter of Dern, his dirt encrusted boot hanging in the air mid-step. "It's my house." He pointed out the obvious in a wary tone.

Kili looked back and forth between them, grinning happily, eager to watch the outcome.

Cleadeth nearly purred. "Oh you poor dwarf. Sister, you should be sweeter. He looks like he's put in a hard day."

Fili tilted his head slightly to the younger sister, though his eyes never left Teldu or her sharp frown and spooky blue-eyed gaze. "A hard day." He agreed.

"A clean kitchen. Filled with food for guests that don't want to eat your dust." Teldu waved a hand toward the table. "And the cake."

Kili and Fili's eyes both went to the large cake, even though it was currently covered. The dark haired dwarf's grin widened in delight. Fili's eyes narrowed in inspection, he leaned forward.

"Put that foot down in this kitchen and I'll toss ice water over your head." Teldu's frown eased, even as she threatened.

Foot still hanging in the air, Fili gave the dwarf-maid his full attention.

Cleadeth's mouth moved into a pout. He was looking at the wrong sister! Her only solice was that he appeared angry, not flirty. "I was just telling my _older _sister how you resemble a lion from a picture book we used to have."

Teldu shot her sister an odd look. She'd said no such thing, not out loud anyway. "We still have that book, you'd know that if you ever bothered to read."

"A lion?" Fili shrugged. "I've been called worse."

"It's a compliment, silly!" Fili finally spared Cleadeth a quick glance from the corner of his eyes. His foot still poised in the air. "Your balance is impressive, you've been on one foot all this time and you haven't wobbled even once." She gave him a teasing smile full of promise.

"Lions are vicious and sneaky." He commented.

Cleadeth waved off his words. "They're predators, and magnificently powerful."

Pleased with the comparison, Fili's natural confidence had his grin returning. He looked around the kitchen and very deliberately put his booted foot down onto the clean floor. Pieces of caked-together dirt flecked off his heavy boots.

Teldu hissed and grabbed a bucket.

Kili held up his hands in surrender. He'd fight orcs, trolls, goblins and even a dragon. But dwarf-maids? His mother would have boxed his ears until they rang. Besides, he wasn't the one with filthy boots.

But Teldu made no move to throw the empty bucket at Fili. Instead she also grabbed a mop and marched over, thrusting both directly at him. It was either take them or let them fall to the floor.

The clatter of the wooden bucket and mop falling onto the floor had Kili wincing. Cleadeth's eyes were large as she watched. Fili crossed his arms, appearing indifferent to the female's towering temper.

Teldu crossed her arms, tapping her foot in irritation. "Clean the floor or yourself. But you're not bringing that filth inside around the food."

Fili was left at a crossroads. She was right. But he did NOT want to admit that, not here, not now. "Don't you know it's never safe to beard a lion in his own den?" He grumbled, thrusting his jaw foward stubbornly.

Teldu's spooky-blue eyes widened. "I never said you looked like a lion." Though he kind-of did, she reluctantly noted. "I think you look more like a lumbering boar, wallowing in the mud and muck. Smell like one too. Be careful we don't spit you and hang you over the fire as well."

Reminded over earlier adventures, Kili leaned over and looked out the window at the boar they were currently roasting and whistled tunelessly. He then grinned widely. "I think that piggy looks like we almost did back at the Troll's fire."

Sudden humor pulled a sharp laugh from the elder brother and he relaxed a bit. "Perhaps a bit. But without a hobbit spouting cooking ideas to the trolls."

"What is a hobbit?" Cleadeth asked, confused.

"Ladies, why don't we go inside and check out what's left to be done." The dark-haired dwarf smiled ingratiatingly at the duo. "Let my brother wash up a bit."

Forgetting her mild curiousity, the younger sister stepped forward. "I could help." Cleadeth offered with a small swivel move of her shoulders meant to be tempting.

Kili saw the lack of expression on his brother's face, and knew that Fili had about had enough. He shook his head. "I need your help. I have a ring for my bride, but it needs to be properly cleaned so it will sparkle. I'm sure you two could get this sorted out without a problem."

Teldu rolled her eyes, even as she moved to join the younger brother at the door leading into the main part of the house. "Since when does any dwarf need help to clean one ring?" She shot a glance at Fili, knowing a strategic retreat was in the making.

Truth. Kili winked at her and motioned at Cleadeth to follow. The younger sister moved achingly slowly, trying to give Fili enough time to protest and ask her to stay.

He didn't.

Teldu turned around, giving the elder brother a long look down her nose. "No peeking at the cake. No touching. No tasting. And don't even go near it until you're clean." She paused, thinking quickly. "Not even then."

Fili's mouth flattened into a grim look. He did not like being ordered around.

"I think you should go outside and clean up. You smell worse than you look." She continued dismissively.

"You think?" Fili snarled, any filter leaving his mouth completely. "A thought crossing your mind? It must have been a long and lonely journey through there then."

Teldu hissed and Cleadeth smiled, her good humor restored.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

The room was packed with people. Humans and Dwarves alike. All of them had arrived early. Many had brought extra chairs. All of them seemed to be talking and laughing and having a grand time.

Tauriel was pulled from group to group, meeting a dizzying array of people. Matching names and faces was becoming more and more difficult. And her lengthy hair was bound up in ropes of braids, pinned together in loops hanging down past her shoulders and back up again to the crown of her head. So many pins. It's a wonder she didn't have a headache already.

She thought at least that Kili would enjoy the look, but he'd pulled a tight smile at the sight and wrinkled his nose. "I like you looking like you." Was all he'd said.

Which was lovely. But left her with an ungainly hairstyle for the evening, because she couldn't tear it down and upset the dwarrowdams who'd spent two hours putting it up!

Bofur tapped her elbow and the she-elf turned to him like a life-line. But before she could speak, he had pressed a mug of ale into her hand, grinned and winked ...and then moved on. Without her.

She stood taller than everyone else in the room though, and she could make out Kili's dark hair and bright laughter even in the raucous crowd. Only, he was on the other side of the room.

Fili showed up on her other side and his cheeks were already rosy with good spirits. The fermented kind. She started to open her mouth to ask what she should be doing, when he waved a hand at her to hush. Grinning, the blond dwarf pointed at where several males where erecting a large bell in a wooden case in the middle of the room.

Tauriel's green-eyed gaze watched curiously. This was the bell she was supposed to avoid?

It appeared no one else was avoiding it. "What's going on?"

Fili shrugged loosely, all his earlier temper evaporating into good humor lubricated by copious amounts of ale and food. "Bachelors and older married men." He burped, grinning. "Watch. Now it starts."

"Now what starts?" Tauriel felt someone jostle her and she turned, surprised to see Kili as he was being shoved into position next to her. Surely this wasn't the time for vows already?

The laughing groom batted mockingly at the hands pushing on him, not really fighting. He looked as ripped as his older brother. She watched, bemused as Kili's empty ale mug was taken away by someone only to have a full mug pressed into his other hand. That seemed to be the theme for the night.

Perhaps she should join them. She raised her own mug to her lips, then stalled as Fili grabbed her elbow. He shook his head at her and pointed at the wedding bell in the middle of the room. "Wait." He yelled, trying to be heard.

The tall she-elf looked around the room. Everywhere she looked there was laughter, jokes, drinks, and good cheer. This was entirely different from the celebrations she'd experienced at home with her own kind. Even when getting drunk, the elves usually showed a lot more decorum.

A shout went up from somewhere near the wedding bell and Tauriel allowed a small smile. As foreign as she found all this, it wasn't unpleasant. The red-head felt a tug and realized that she and Kili were being urged to sit next to each other.

Taking her place, she smiled at Kili, whose grin was stretching from one ear to the other. A sense of happiness stole through her, a peace within herself. Who knew that she'd feel most at home among dwarves?

The older dwarf raised his hand, lifted the attached clapper and struck the bell hard to send a sharp peal of sound throughout the whole house.

"What is he doing?" Tauriel whispered.

"Giving words of encouragement and advice." Fili burped loudly. "For a happy marriage."

Everyone waited as the dwarf cleared his throat, turning to face Kili. He pointed one stubby finger at the groom. "If you snore, be sure to let her go to sleep first."

The room full of dwarves roared it's approval and stamped their collective feet, downing their ale in a display of drunken glee.

"Drink! Drink!" Fili urged, tapping her elbow. Tauriel looked over at Kili, but he'd already downed his mug and a newly filled one was being pressed into his free hand.

She looked up, to find all eyes on her. The older dwarf was watching her expectantly. Tauriel gave a weak smile and took a large sip of her ale. The dwarves around her raised their mugs, both full and empty, shouting their satisfaction.

The ale tasted full-bodied and sweet, balanced with a bitter note. It was nice actually. She smiled and looked at Fili. He looked disgusted and motioned for her to finish the mug. Tauriel shook her head at him. He nodded. Sighing, she downed the rest of her mug.

Fili sighed with a sudden grin. "Ah now." His expression brightened even further when another round of ale filled mugs were passed around.

She tried to wave off the second ale, but the older dwarf wouldn't be denied. It was take it or let it fall to the floor. Tauriel looked down at the two mugs in her hands, only to have the empty one snatched away by a dwarf whose name she could not recall.

Now another older dwarf dressed in mended leathers and a hat that had seen better days walked up the bell in the middle of the room, holding up his hand for attention.

"More advice?" The she-elf guessed as this one too rang the wedding bell sharply.

The older dwarf slipped his hat off his head, holding it before his heart. He winked at Tauriel, then addressed Kili. "If you hear the words, 'we have to talk'. Run."

Laughter roared out all around the room.

Not needing a cue this time, Tauriel took a large drink from her mug. She then turned to Kili. "That's his advice?"

Fili leaned across her, pointing at his younger brother. "Seems like good advice to me."

The dark-eyed groom blinked lazily and blindly held out his empty mug. It was whisked away and replaced without comment. Tauriel sighed and chuckled.

"How long does this continue?" The red-head asked, though no one seemed to take her question seriously. She looked between the two brothers, feeling the pins in her hair poking at her scalp.

However, when the next person approached the bell, quiet really did fall over the room. The scrape of boots shifting nervously on the floorboards and with a few hissed whispers. The change had Tauriel and Kili both looking up.

A human male stood near the dwarven wedding bell. He looked at the groom, as if for permission.

Kili shot a glance at Bofur and Fili. Neither objected and the young groom nodded slowly.

The human, Deven's father if Kili wasn't mistaken, picked up the clapper and rang the bell. He cleared his throat, and then in a loud voice he spoke. "My best advice? When you are wrong, be quick to admit it. And when you are right? Shut up."

There was a small beat, and then a huge roar of approval and the boots stomping the floor nearly had the house shaking. Several dwarves turned to their human neighbors and bumped them with their shoulders in a sign of acceptance.

The humans grinned, drank their ale and marvelled at how these usually stoic and silent dwarves that they'd known their whole lives were actually funny, lively, and full of laughter.

"I thought the bell was to chase away evil spirits, not a signal to drain your mug." Tauriel commented, unsure as the blond dwarf took her mug and pressed another one into her hand.

Fili unsuccessfully tried to hide his smile. "Ah, and why can't it be both?" He teased.

Kili sat up, his interest snagged. "Someone is feeling bold."

Tauriel glanced over where her love was watching. "I thought females weren't supposed to go near the wedding bell?"

Fili nearly choked on his ale as he laughed. They all watched as Cleadeth skirted the edge of the area around the bell, multiple pairs of eyes following her every mood.

"Risky, risky." Kili muttered with a slow grin. He winced as one young dwarve made a preemptive grab for her hand and the dwarf-maiden spun out of the way and over toward the side of the room. "Not even close."

Tauriel watched the disappointed young dwarf pout. "Why did he have his hand on the bell casing? He could have caught her if he hadn't been touching it."

"Tradition." Kili leaned back in his chair lazily. "Can only kiss the maids if you can catch them while in contact with the wedding bell. Let her know you're interested."

"Kiss a lot of maids, did you?" The she-elf asked caustically.

"Ye ...er, no. Not a lot." Kili amended his answer as his chair lurched dangerously from being kicked by Bofur.

"Liar." Fili coughed the word into his fist, culling a wicked smile from his less than sober younger sibling.

"Where was this?" A middle-aged dwarf asked curiously, grinning happily.

Bofur rolled his eyes and shrugged. "In his imagination mostly." Lying through his teeth.

Luckily the dwarf was just as south of sober as the rest of them, and he let the comment slip away as a neighbor bumped him, spilling a few drops of his ale.

Dern leaned in, falsely casual as he planted his hand on the back of Kili's chair. "Most male dwarves rarely see a dwarf-maid unless they live in much larger communities of dwarves."

Fili's mirth lost it's edge and he sighed, even Kili's smile dimmed a bit. They were supposed to be Hamnar's lost sons come home at last from a life of wandering. Not royal heirs used to dwarvish society, and much sought after by females of their race.

The sound of the bell pulled them all away from their thoughts.

A truly ancient dwarf grinned at the young couple. "An elf choosing to marry a dwarf. Something I never thought to have seen. Personally, I don't know how she chose this particular dwarf either. Probably poor taste ...or poor eyesight!"

Tauriel's green eyes narrowed with the insult, but then Kili burst into delighted laughter beside her. She glanced over at Fili, but that blond warrior was nearly doubled over in mirth. Even Bofur was wiping tears from his eyes. She stared at the older dwarf and he grinned nearly toothless at her, making motions that she needed to drink.

That's when she realized, these insults weren't meant to be insulting. Somehow, this was part of the celebration, and a show of acceptance. She took a long swallow of her drink and gave a half-tilted smile.

Another ring of the bell. Tauriel looked up, mildly suprirsed to see a younger dwarf standing in the middle of the room, his bushy beard without a hint of gray. "Marriage." He took a deep breath, as if about to impart soul-searing wisdom upon them all. "Marriage is full of ups and downs." Suddenly, his solemnity vanished as he cracked a wide grin. "Just make sure those ups and downs are in between the sheets!"

More laughter, more ale, and Tauriel even chuckled at that one, risque as it had been. Several more followed, until more than one head was reeling.

The she-elf peered around the room, wondering if she would manage to get married before everyone fell over dead drunk. But as if by some unspoken cue, the bell stopped ringing.

"Food!" Nothing is like the sound of heavy working boots as the demand spread through the room. "Food!"

Plates were passed around and everyone lined up at the overflowing tables. No, the food wasn't as fancy as she'd seen at Elven banquets, but it was delicious and filling certainly. But no one would let either her nor Kili line up. Instead, they'd be brought plate after plate of samples.

Tauriel gratefully ate her fill, not even realizing how hungry she'd been until the food had been brought to her. Kili was eating nearly three times as much. She smiled at him. And even though he was medically clear to eat just about anything he wanted, it still made her a bit jumpy when he crunched a carrot.

"I'm fine." He groaned, noting her look. "Even carrots aren't evil anymore."

She gave a small, sad smile. So grateful that he was indeed healthy. "I almost lost you." The elf whispered.

"What?" Kili grinned happily up at her.

The red-head shook her head, not wanting to dwell on what had almost come to pass. Instead she held out a forkful of Teldu's delicious cake. Kili leaned in and let her feed it to him, licking the chocolate frosting off his lips.

Tauriel's eyes sharpened and she dipped her finger in the thick, fluffy chocolate and put a dab on Kili's lip. His dark-eyes laughed at her. She leaned in and licked it off. When she drew back, he wasn't laughing anymore.

Bofur grabbed the back of Kili's chair, giving it a good shake and making the young groom grab the arm rests to keep from falling out. "Later! That's for later!"

Tauriel sat back in her own chair, then realized that she was the subject of more than one interested gaze. When she looked around, those gazes fell away. But more than one dwarf looked back at her and nodded quietly. One older male went so far as to clap Kili on the shoulder and whisper loudly at how lucky the lad was.

Without warning, the wedding bell rang out again. Tauriel looked up in surprise. They weren't done with the advice?

Dern stood up there, grinning and looking affable. "A good wife is a treasure." He began, looking right at Tauriel. She stiffened, waiting for what he'd say next. "They always give you sound advice."

Tauriel nodded, relaxing for a second. That hadn't been bad.

"That's 99% sound, and 1% advice." Dern finished riotously, drawing a snort from Nurbera as she threw her empty mug at her husband who caught it easily.

Fili grinned and looked around the house with pride. Brookshire. Hmph. Not a bad place to settle for the moment. Good solid dwarven community, even if it was small by their standards. Humans who were willing to listen. He grinned, Mirrenda had approached him about the town defenses. Not bad, not bad.

He snuck a glance at Kili and Tauriel. No worries, not in that direction. His earlier doubts about their relationship sailed away on an ocean of ale, satisfaction, and warmth.

And he had cake.

Fili looked down at the light white-yellow cake and the chocolate decorating it. There had been chocolate flowers and vines running all over the large work of art. Silly female. Griping about how much time she'd had to put it together. It looked fine to him. Better than fine. It looked delicious.

The blond stuck his fork into the confection, then realized he wasn't alone. He blinked up and found Teldu's spooky blue eyes on him. Grinning, he shrugged. "What? I bathed."

Teldu grinned back at him, held her hand up over his cake and then let something white spinkle liberally over his dessert. She walked away without a word even as the wedding bell rang out again.

Fili watched her leave, then peered at his piece of cake. He touched the white crystals, putting them in his mouth. Darkly, he groaned. She'd salted his damned plate!

"My advice for the young couple." A cheery male dwarf dressed in fine leathers raised up his mug. "Lots of sex."

Kili raised his own mug as Tauriel lightly blushed, even as she laughed in spite of herself. She started to shake her head, but stilled at the unused to feeling of the braids looping down.

Bofur made a gesture at Fili to take his turn at the wedding bell, but the blond shook his head. He headed back over to the cake table. There was a line, but he ignored it and took the next piece right out of his guest's hand. "Mine died." He winked with great charm and headed back to his place.

A smooth male voice rose over the guests. "Don't let her know that you're smarter than she is." A groan filled the room. "Then again, not thinking that'll be an issue for this couple. Instead, you might want to consider letting him think he's smarter!"

Good nature laughter filled the room as Fili made his way through the crowd. He raised his plate out of the way of an unsteady dwarf, passing it to his other hand. Then it disappeared from his grasp.

Fili turned his head, shocked. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw the plate now in Teldu's hands. He made a step toward her, drawing up short only as she bowed and presented his slice of cake to the elder dwarrowdam, Huakil, who was seated and resting her feet. The gray-bearded older female smiled happily, taking the plate.

Teldu straightened and gave him an arch look, as if daring him to take back his cake from the elderly dwarrowdam. Oh, like he was stupid enough to try that!

Another advice-giver was standing in the middle of the room, ringing the bell. Fili sighed, not even bothering to look and see who it was this time. He was heading back to the cake table, determined.

It wasn't even about the cake, damn it! It was the idea that the little chit thought she could out maneuver him!

The dwarf handing out the plates eyed him with disapproval. There was plenty of cake, but this was Fili's third trip to the table. The blond warrior growled, didn't explain, and just took the next slice cut. This time he grunted and didn't even try to be charming.

The bell rang out again, even as Fili looked around, trying to guage where Teldu was and what she would try next.

Bofur's distinctive accent filled the room next, drawing Fili's attention. "Marry a woman who can take a good joke! You can tell she can take a good joke, because she's agreed to marry him!"

Fili laughed, even as he spied Teldu watching him. For the first time he realized she wasn't wearing her usual work clothes. She was in an actual dress.

He straightened, staring intently at her, his gaze measuring. In the blousy work clothes, she had to bind herself down. Because there had been no hint at her mildly generous curves when he'd seen her before. In fact, she cleaned up fairly well. Not that he had any intention of letting her know that.

Another ring of the bell, followed by some less than sage advice. "Young woman, er ...elf. If you want to win an argument? Show up naked."

Low groans and laughter filled the room. As the evening became more lubricated with ale, the advice became looser and more suggestive.

Fili and Teldu stared at each other, separated by only a few person. Earlier he had been grouchy, hot, dirty and tired. Now he was clean, on his way to drunk, and happy. The only thing missing? Cake. And beating her at whatever game they were playing.

The dwarf-maid visibly startled when he gifted her with a slow wink. He knew she was watching as he headed to the only place in the room where it was safe for a bachelor to eat without interference from a female.

Fili could feel her watching, drawing closer, but staying out of the way as he neared the wedding bell. She wouldn't dare come closer, not with all the male dwarves ready to grab and kiss her senseless. All without repercussions from her or her family.

Dwarven tradition. You had to love it.

The other males made way for him, as the brother of the groom and the owner of the house. Still holding his pristine piece of cake, Fili grabbed the clapper and loudly rang the bell.

Teldu narrowed her eyes on him as he grinned outrageously.

Silence fell over the crowd as he leaned against the casing of the bell. "When a she-elf steals your younger brother, there is no better revenge ..." His grin turned darkly wicked. "Than to let her keep him. No giving him back!"

Shouts of glee roared through the house, shaking the rafters as boots stomped the floor.

Cleadeth walked by the group, just out of reach. She glanced over her shoulder at Fili, obviously looking for attention. Several males moved to follow her, as did his own gaze.

Inwardly he couldn't help but compare the winning charm of the younger sister with the tartness of the older. Both, he had to admit, were lovely. But beauty never held, and never filled a house with life and laughter. His mother had taught him that many years ago. And he had to admit, Cleadeth ...bored him. It was too bad actually.

He turned to see where Teldu was standing, only to draw up short as she moved in front of him. He had a flash of her satisfied look, before her hand touched his and lifted. Shoving his cake plate, and the chocolate cake on it, in his face.

More laughter filled the room with shouts of encouragement.

Teldu moved away. Only to draw up short as Fili caught her arm. He grinned, unmindful of the chocolate smeared in his face. "Nice move. You forgot one thing."

The dwarf-maid raised her eyes at him. He patted the bell one second before yanking her into him and kissing the breath out of her lungs.

Teldu yeilded for a second, then two. Finally she yanked on her arm.

Fili reluctantly let her go, satisfied to see rich chocolate smearing her reddened lips and beading in the short ruff of her own beard. A very soft beard, as he now had cause to know.

Another bachelor reached out toward the unmarried female, only to drop to his knees as Fili punched him in the back without thinking about it first. Gasping for breath, the male snarled even as Teldu moved out of the area and safely back over to her mother.

Dern was there too. Fili and the father both stared at each other, their countenance's giving nothing away. The blond finally shook his head. That would be a discussion for another day.

Fili headed over to Kili and Tauriel. The she-elf gave him a guarded look, while his younger brother leaned over toward him. "What was that about?"

Shrugging, Fili deliberately didn't answer. He didn't have an answer, not really. Uncomfortable with his thoughts, and yet feeling more alive than he had since before the Battle of Five Armies, he crossed his arms.

The wedding bell rang out yet again, drawing attention away from him and stalling Kili's pointed questions. Fili nodded over at the older male standing next to the bell.

The male dwarf grinned, his nose and cheeks red from drink. "Adice, I mean ...advice for the young couple!" He thumped his chest heartily. "Males should keep their mouths shut or firmly planted between their wive's thighs."

Tauriel's face went from creamy complexion to alarmingly red in under three seconds as groans raced throughout the house. More than a few items were thrown at the speaker.

Fili grinned at the crude humor, but couldn't help but look for Teldu. Had she called it quits? Had she hidden like a coward?

Finally he spied her off to the side of the room. She was sprinkling something on a large piece of cake, then handing it to ...her sister? It didn't take much imagination to figure out the plan as Cleadeth was unknowningly pointed in his direction.

Clever, clever.

His arms still crossed, he grinned. And when Cleadeth delivered the plate of cake to him, he accepted with more grace and attentiveness than he had yet shown her. The younger daughter preened under the attention.

Bofur sidled up to him, looking curious as Fili dismissed the young maiden back to her family. Cleadeth kept shooting him 'don't you want to join me' looks all the way back.

"Be careful there laddie." The older male commented dryly. "That one has been flirting with anything not in short pants all night."

"Here." Fili handed Bofur the cake plate without warning him.

"Oh! Thank'n you, lad."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**A/N: Much longer chapter this time, but I won't apologize for that. I am sorry that I didn't get to the actual vows yet though. :P**


	24. Heirs

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Bofur, chatting with a human farmer, glanced back at Fili. The toy-maker gave the younger dwarf a quelling look. This had been the third time he'd asked that same question in under thirty minutes.

Quelling looks didn't work on Fili. The blond poked him in the side rudely. "Are you?"

Holding up a finger to the man he was discussing important issues with, Bofur turned to Fili and shoved him in the shoulder as retaliation. "What, laddie?"

"Stop talking toys. I want to know how you feel."

"Annoyed." Bofur commented. "And too close to sober." He turned back to the human male, then stopped and glanced once more at Fili. "And I can talk toys if'n I want. I make toys!"

Fili twisted his head sharply, cracking his neck before rolling his shoulders. He sent a hard look over at where Teldu was now helping to serve the cake. The great big chocolate cake that he'd yet to have a taste of, despite being the one to order and pay for it!

But beyond that, it was a game between them. And Fili never lost. He sneered at her, even though she was ignoring him. As if he didn't exist.

The blond-haired dwarf scowled. And maybe that was the problem. He didn't exist. Not anymore. He and his brother had each basically given up their true identities.

And the other dwarves knew it. Oh, they didn't know who the brothers actually were. But they knew who they weren't. All night long he'd been fielding pointed little comments, questions, and hints. Who was he really? Who was Kili? Why were they hiding? Were they hiding?

Some believed the cover story that they were the lost sons of old Hamnar Coppernose, finally returned. But those were the minority. The rest seemed to think that he and his brother were using the names Kili and Fili as a cover. Which was good. And demeaning. Fili frowned, rubbing the beaded side of his mustache out of habit.

"Did you even warn him before giving Bofur that piece of cake?"

Startled, Fili did not move a muscle. He refused to let Teldu know he'd been so lost in thought he'd not noticed her approach. "No." He paused for a moment, but she made no further comment. So he did. "What did you put on it?"

"Candied flower petals." Teldu shrugged, looking smug. "I knew you were watching, and wouldn't eat something when you knew I'd added an unknown substance."

So the cake hadn't been tampered with. Fili's eyes narrowed dangerously. Teldu was up on him. This would not do. "Did I bruise your lips?" He taunted her in a low, husky voice.

Teldu stiffened and he grinned, both remembering when he'd grabbed her and kissed the stuffing out of her. Maybe they were more like even. Except, he still hadn't gotten to sample the cake.

"Girl."

Teldu glanced up at her father's stern face and knew it was his cue for 'move along'. She sniffed, smiled at a scowling Fili and winked at a stunned looking Bofur.

The toy-maker cocked his head to the left, turning his gaze on Fili. "You gave me something to eat that you thought had been tampered with? Something that might make me sick?"

"Er ...no." Fili lied with a straight face, turning toward Dern. She hadn't messed with the cake after all, so he was _almost _telling the truth. "Teldu messed with me first."

Dern scowled. "Later." He warned, pushing aside the matter of Fili kissing his precious daughter like he had. "Definitely a later discussion."

Bofur didn't appear ready to move on. He leaned in toward Fili. "You could have warned me."

"Nothing was wrong with the cake, damn it." Fili muttered. He lifted his chin at Dern. "What news?" The older dwarf was frowning too hard for there not to be something amiss.

"There's a lot of talk in the group." Dern looked around, making sure they were private enough for this discussion. He frowned. They weren't. He scowled and turned, leading the way into the kitchen.

Fili and Bofur followed the other dwarf, pulling up sharply as they realized the kitchen wasn't private either. Nurbera was in there, supervising a replenishing of food platters. The blond host gave her his thanks and a gracious bow before turning toward a side room off the hall.

The blond marched in, relieved to find the spacious room clear of guests. This was the room he'd claimed as his own private study. Kili had needled him about it, but had then claimed the gardens out back as his own to set up archery targets. Bofur had then spread out tools and doohickies in the second utility room off the kitchen.

Communal living was common to dwarves, as was claiming personal space within those environs. Everyone seemed happy.

Fili turned, then sighed. Dern didn't seem happy. He hoped this really wasn't about his impromptu kiss with Teldu. He wasn't even sure how he felt about that, much less how to explain it to her father. "Well? You said there's talk."

Dern nodded, leaning heavily agains the sturdy door. "My three cousins and my wife know who you really are. No one else. And to my way of thinking, that's too many already. At least the humans are accepting your story at face value."

"But not the dwarves, not all of them." Bofur shrewdly guessed, still shooting unhappy looks at Fili. "I could have been killed."

"Poltroon." The blond muttered at the toy-maker, who stiffened with the insult.

Dern pointed at Fili, his mouth tight. "There. See? That's an old fashioned word, an educated one. High education."

Fili sneered. "I and my brother were raised impovershed in the Blue Mountains. It's an old-fashioned word, maybe. But my education was the same as any other young dwarf in exile." He glanced at Bofur. "It means 'coward', by the way."

"I know that!" The toy maker drew up haughtily.

"You learned your vocabulary from your uncle or your mam?" Dern asked, thinking it out logically. "They were high educated in Erebor, I'm presuming. Before the dragon. What they knew, they passed to you and your brother. NOT the same education as any other young dwarf in or out of exile."

Fili grunted, realizing perhaps that the older dwarf had some valid thoughts. Perhaps he did talk more like Thorin than Bofur, but then he'd been bascially raised by his uncle. Trained by him, for the throne. He couldn't help but wince at the thought of Erebor not being ruled by Durin's direct line.

Dern nodded, seeing his point hitting home. "Nurbera and I have both explained why Kili and Tauriel won't be listing their ancestry."

Bofur sighed, nodding though still clearly unhappy. "Tauriel is an elf, obviously she can't be expected to recite her history in Khuzdul as is tradition."

The older dwarf looked upset as he ran one hand down his face. "There are more than a few that consider that you and your brother take honorable names, of fallen heroes, and hide behind them."

Fili's scowl deepened. It wasn't that he hadn't known that. And it wasn't that he and Kili weren't counting on exactly that misconception in order to protect themselves. It was that the whole idea of hiding himself was distasteful in the first place.

"I and my cousins accept you, and we've made that well known. But some, especially the elders, are not so welcoming. They say that they don't mind Kili marrying an elf of all things, much." He winced. "Some took more convincing than others."

Bofur snorted in agreement, he'd had to do some of that convincing himself.

But Dern wasn't done. "Mostly, they hate not knowing why you hide here. Why. And who you really are. The prevailing thought is that you, your brother, and Bofur here are running from Dain's army. Deserting, because of Kili's relationship with Tauriel. Breaking vows of service to Dain."

Bofur looked down at his shined boots, but could only see a marred reflection of himself. "Damn."

Fili froze, his face a mask of pure unhappiness.

"You may have to let that stand." Bofur said, his voice extremely quiet, but sorrow dripping from each word. "I know it's hateful."

"But that's not what I needed to tell you." Dern rubbed at his beard nervously, then blurted out the rest of it. "I don't think the elders will bless the union."

The blond started, raising his head sharply as his expression clouded with anger. "They brought gifts, offered advice, drank our ale ..."

"And they said they'll offer the blessing, IF Kili recites his ancestry traditionally." Dern looked embarrassed to even be relaying this particular message. "His real ancestry line."

Bofur said something unrepeatable under his breath.

Fili stared at nothing, his mind racing. The way he stood, his stance, clearly showed that he was not happy. But it was the controlled power that fairly radiated off the younger dwarf that had both Bofur and Dern looking at each other a bit unnerved.

Dern waited, unsure of what to say. And what not to say. He could deal with Fili the dwarf. But Fili, the heir of Durin? He had not a clue.

Bofur gritted his teeth. "We could ...no." He made a fist, then forced himself to relax. "What if we just called this an engagement party instead? Say the bride got cold feet?"

Dern nodded, grasping at any vague idea. "Perhaps." He said, as he pointed at Bofur.

"No." Fili said with little heat.

Bofur frowned. "You're right. Not the bride. But we can't say Kili got cold feet. No one would believe us, anyway. Lad is clearly besotted with Tauriel. And she dotes on him, though it's harder to read an elf, it's still there. Besides, it would be an insult to her to claim he wanted a delay. So ..."

"The wedding will be held." Fili's voice was even, as if he weren't under tremendous stress. "Tonight."

Suddenly nervous, Bofur tried to say something, but nothing came to mind and after a moment, he just shut his mouth and grunted. How they were going to accomplish this, he had not a clue. But some instinct told him to wait for Durin's heir to explain.

Fili finally turned and looked at both of the other male dwarves. He smiled, but it wasn't a happy look on his face. His eyes were narrowed with determination. "Sometimes the roll call of the ancestry has been done separately. Done before the Gamulalh rather than the wedding guests."

Dern's thick eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The Gamulalh?" The historians, as translated from Khuzdul. "That is for small ceremonies with few family available." It was a less a tradition than a convenience. Small ceremonies satisfying societal customs, with the 'historians' spreading the word that all had been done correctly.

"We have few family." Fili nearly bit out the words. "Too few."

Dern winced, feeling like he'd stuck his large boot directly into his mouth. Durin's direct line was now down to two living male heirs. Two.

"The Gamulalh." Fili nodded, as if coming to some degree of agreement within his own mind. He turned to look at Bofur. "Who better? We don't have to reveal ourselves outright, or lie. We take two elders and name them our historians for the evening. Swear them to secrecy. No one keeps a secret like a good dwarf."

Bofur looked helplessly at the younger dwarf. "It would still'n be a risk." Two more with the knowledge that could be disasterous.

Fili shuddered deliberately, shaking off his mood as best he could. Instead, he fixed his eyes upon Dern, who straightened in spite of himself despite the blond being the younger of the two males. There was definitely something regal in Fili's manner, he mused to himself. "Go. Find two elders. They will act as our Gamulalh for the night."

Dern stared, unsure. "But ..."

Fili gave a fierce nod. "Choose wisely and well, our lives could depend upon this secret. And I hold my brother's breath to be worth more than all the gold of Erebor. I think I've already proven that beyond all doubt."

Dern swallowed hard, catching the implication.

Bofur cleared his throat to get attention. "Make sure that these two elders can not only keep a secret silent, but that they can reassure the entire dwarven community here that no further inquiry will be made."

"Or tolerated." Fili snapped, his voice controlled by an iron will. "From henceforth. We will be known only as Coppernose the Elder and Coppernose the Younger. Fili and Kili at home only."

Dern nodded again, his hand groping behind him for the door handle. His eyes wide. He'd known from almost the first who these young dwarves were, but he hadn't realized just EXACTLY whom he was dealing with.

The blond before him was a warrior, a leader, and a descendant of their most sacred bloodline. He wasn't some young brawler, or if he was, he was also much more than merely that.

Dern slipped away from the room, and in the back of his head, if he hoped the heir of all heirs let his gaze slip away from his daughters, that might be a good thing. It would be difficult to act as a father-by-marriage to THIS dwarf. Whomever Fili did wed? There would be a lot of expectations upon the poor female.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Huakil and Ulwin looked around the private study in interest. Far more interest than was needed. It was a large empty room with bare bookshelves, a rickety table and a straight backed chair. Indeed the chair had seen better days, having three oaken legs and the fourth a rough plank of cedar obviously meant to keep the chair in service long after it should have been tossed away or used as kindling.

Fili didn't even bother with looking embarrassed. He was still too angry, and a bit too sober. It had been at least an hour since his last tankard of ale. He frowned at the thought. "This is my brother's wedding." It was both a statement and a complaint.

Ulwin, an elderly male dwarf made a prissy face. A look that didn't belong with his rather unfinished looking face. That nose had been broken at least once in his long lifetime. And his white-gray beard held only a few streaks of blanched ginger. Almost appearing as like a vein of gold within quartz, Fili mused absently.

Huakil peered over at the bride, who was sitting in the mended chair looking unconcerned. Whether she was as disinterested as she appeared, the dwarrowdam couldn't tell. Elves were well known for not giving away each passing feeling. Kili stood at her side, making their height difference appear to be less. "If Ulwin and I don't find your words to be adequate, we will not bless this marriage."

Tauriel's green eyes flashed anger for a second before the elf could school her face into neutral lines once more. "You helped spend two hours braiding my hair meticulously for this ceremony that you dare to hold hostage now?"

The elderly dwarrowdam chuckled a bit and gave a small nod, awknowledging the comment. "A small kindness for someone that I can see plainly really is in love. And it is truly my hope that the ceremony will take place."

Ulwin sniffed at that. Clearly he did not care if the ceremony preceded or not.

Tauriel looked away from the dwarven elders, only stilling as Kili rested his broad hand on her shoulder. It was a incongruous sight, the strong hand of the dwarf on the delicate slope of the elf's collarbone. Even odder was the tenderness the touch conveyed.

Huakil looked at them both sadly for a moment, then steeled her spine. She had a duty as an elder dwarrowdam. "My personal hopes aside, it does not negate the fact that we can not condone nor allow a false line of ancestors to be called upon."

Ulwin spoke up, his light tenor voice rolling pleasantly throughout the room. His eyes nearly lost beneath wrinkles and heavy white brows. "Honor demands only the truth. It's bad enough that you have chosen to cross racial lines ..."

Fili straightened with a frightening hiss of displeasure. The elder dwarf fell silent, cautiously watching the blond whose hand went to his belt. And his knife blade. Whether it was a threat, or a nervous gesture, no one was quite sure.

"Lad." Bofur bowed to Fili, drawing an odd look from both elders. Dwarves didn't bow to others lightly. It was a show of deep respect. And they were left to wonder why the blond was deserving of such a gesture from the older, and accomplished, dwarf.

Fili's face cleared and he nodded slowly, reaching up to run one hand over his lower jaw for a second to gather his thoughts. Finally he turned to the two elders. "The truth only in this room. Kili will name his ancestors correctly. You will bless the union. You will never speak of what you learn here, for if you do I swear on blood of my ancestors, you nor your families will draw further breath into your bodies if you put my brother or his wife in danger."

Tauriel looked up sharply, looking disturbed. Kili's hand tightened slightly on her shoulder, a cue to not interfere. She chose to wait to respond.

Dern froze in place, barely drawing a breath. It was a bold move, and a heavy threat. But then, considering what he knew, was it really unwarrented?

Huakil and Ulwin shot each other incredulous looks. Both shifted nervously. They'd already thought that the lads were adventurers, hiding from their family because of the youngest's desire to marry an elf. Suddenly, that surity didn't seem to be on solid ground any more.

Ulwin cleared his throat a bit roughly. "Danger? Is your family so opposed to this Elven-Dwarf relationship, odd as it may be, that they hunt you?"

Fili frowned sharply, and gave a terse shake of his head. "Be sure you want to know this truth. This will be your last chance to leave this room uninitiated. Being the Gamulalh for them, for us, carries a responsibility."

Huakil waved one hand in a small arc. "That's not the way this works. You need to proclaim yourselves to the community at large. Make peace with your families. Or wait for this marriage."

Fili stared plainly at the two. "No. The community will NOT be told. Our family is each other. There is one other, but she does know of this relationship and, perhaps reluctantly, agrees. We are the Coppernose brothers. I am Coppernose the Elder."

Kili picked up his cue smoothly. "I am Coppernose the Younger."

"You will allow the community to know that you have witnessed the line of ancestry. That you have witnessed the vows. It will serve as enough. You will keep our secret." Fili's voice was that of one used to being obeyed.

Ulwin stirred uneasily. He was an elder now, but in his youth he'd been a part of the dwarven military under one of the Seven Families. He knew what he was hearing was the tone of command. Whomever this young blond dwarf was, he was not lacking in confidence. And Ulwin was uneasily sure he could back up his words.

"You insisted. You blackmailed and held up this wedding. Fine. We will share our history with you. And only you. You in turn will be the final word that the traditions have been properly met." Kili spoke up.

Huakil stirred in her seat. Gone was the rascal and scamp. Before her now was a tall dwarf, his face serious. The laughter, so much a part of his winning personality, was hidden. She was uncomfortably certain that she'd underestimated the younger brother. He was just as much a warrior as his older sibling.

Ulwin twisted his mouth in distaste, not ready to give in.

"You will serve as our historians, our Gamulalh." Fili spoke slowly, ignoring the two elder's stares. "Witnesses. Or leave now, send in two others."

Huakil and Ulwin looked at each other. Neither wanted to really want to give in, but both were completely eaten up with the need to know. Finally, they both gave a decisive nod of assent.

Fili patted his belt, drawing out a small pouch. He sighed, weighing the cloth bag carefully, his expression almost wistful. "Before we procede with the ancestry. There is the matter of the Zabadogim Khajima."

Ulwin's bushy white eyebrows shot up in surprise. He cut his gaze over toward Tauriel, the only non-dwarf in the room. "You use our language, now?"

Fili shook his head. "She is of my family. If this union is so blessed with children, they will have need to learn Khuzdul. From this time forward, she is my not only my brother-spouse, but my sister."

Huakil's eyes widened a bit, she had a sinking feeling that there was more to these two lads than she'd originally considered. "You would teach her Khuzdul?"

"It has already started." Kili lost his solemnity with a proud look at his bride.

"And he learns my language." Tauriel slid her comment in smoothly.

"Zabadogim Khajima?" Huakil cut through to the most salient point. "The throne gift?"

She spoke quickly, once Fili's eyes fell to her. "That is something given from the family to the bride or groom, when they are of a lesser bloodline. A gift to show that they are welcome within the family with the higher standing. Is that strictly necessary?"

"No." Kili sounded almost angry, staring at his elder brother. "I don't consider her lesser in any way."

Fili rolled his eyes at his brother. "I don't either, Kili. It's tradition though, and I want Tauriel to know that despite my earlier reservations. She is now and hereafter family. Forever."

Tauriel's hand reached for Kili's, and at her touch, his hot temper cooled a bit. He glared at his brother for a moment longer, then gave a terse nod.

Ulwin sighed unhappily. "The greater the gift, the higher the bloodline discrepency." He sounded unsure. "I don't know how to quantify what worth of gift to be appropriate in this manner. Dwarf to Elf."

Tauriel stiffened at the implied insult. Kili snarled. "There is no _racial_ discrepency." He asserted strongly, and his elder brother nodded in agreement.

Huakil listened, her mind still circling the issues. If the young dwarves did not consider Tauriel's race to be beneath them. Then their social class was higher than that of the elf? But how? Who?

Fili hadn't thought of the gift until earlier today, looking at the treasures they'd 'acquired' from Erebor. He hadn't told Kili though. This was from him, as male head of the family, to Tauriel. After the way he'd sometimes treated her, she deserved to know what he thought of her. How much he truly owed her.

"Tauriel, formerly of Mirkwood. You are beauty and grace. Your fighting prowess is beyond measure." Fili's voice thickened with emotion, and he paused to gather his thoughts together. "You have stolen my brother's heart from beneath his chest and hold it in your hands."

Tauriel stirred, unsure. She shot a quick look at Huakil. The dwarrowdam hadn't covered this in her description of dwarvish weddings. Kili smiled, his earlier temper melting away at his brother's sincere speech.

"This should be said in Khuzdul, but I don't think your studies have come so far as yet. So, I will keep this in the common tongue." Fili smiled at the beautiful red-head beside his younger brother. "Please accept this humble offering from the family. Welcome, you are of us now. Our standing, is your standing. Your word given, means our word is given. An insult to you, is an insult to us. Forever, you are we." He paused, mentally sending an apology to the fallen Thorin, who would be yelling right about now if he'd been here. "I apologize for the lack of a box, this wedding was ..."

"Sudden." Tauriel finished for him, accepting the small pouch with great dignity, feeling honored by his words. This was not something she'd ever expected. The gift was presented to her by Fili using both hands and she mirrored him in accepting. "Thank you." She gave a slight nod of her head, unsure of the traditions. The small bag didn't feel terribly heavy.

Kili looked at her expectantly, his dark-eyes going from the pouch to her face and back again.

Belatedly realizing she was supposed to open it now, Tauriel flushed slightly and picked at the knotted ties with her nails.

Huakil watched, nearly holding her breath. The pouch was small, not a large gift then. Still, the young blond had sounded so important, naming the gift as a 'throne gift'. Meaning his bloodlines were ...high? How high? Who were these two males hiding from? She looked over at Dern, who seemed so accepting of the two. Suddenly she wasn't sure she really wanted to know after all.

A gasp from the male elder had her turning her eyes back to Tauriel. At first her eyes didn't fully register what she was seeing. Then her own gasp matched Ulwin's. _Mithral_. The delicate links of the precious metal poured through the elf's elegant fingers as if made of something fluid rather than solid.

Kili's eyes shone bright with both pleasure and gratitude as he looked up at his elder brother. Fili gave him a nod, unable to speak for the moment due to the sudden lump in his throat.

Huakil felt her chest tightening with true worry. The elf-maid was holding in her hands a necklace worth more than she could readily calculate. The number of intricate links forming a network mimicking lace was staggering.

Ulwin looked like he was turning red. The elderly dwarrowdam gave him a sharp knock on the back, forcing air back into the male's lungs. "Zabadogim Khajima." She whispered, then her mind caught up with the translation.

Throne gift. It was an old tradition, coming down to the nobles and the main dwarven families. But it had started, in ancient times, solely for the royal lineage. It no longer meant that it was used strictly by those near the throne, but once ...but once it had.

Kili. Fili. No. No, no, no! That wild thought was preposterous! Fanciful wishing on her part. She looked from Bofur to Dern, then back at Fili and his proud bearing. Regal bearing.

Was that even possible?

She bit her lip and looked over at Dern. That damned dwarf raised one eyebrow at her and nodded. Huakil shook her head slightly. Dern nodded meaningfully.

Suddenly the elderly dwarrowdam had to grip the arms of her seat that Dern had brought in for the two elders.

Fili and Kili. Brothers. Not with stolen names, but their very own. Durin's Folk. In her town. Before her eyes. Huakil closed her gaping mouth, gripping the arm rest until her knuckles turned white. Of course. Who else but royalty would dare meet, woo, and marry an elf? Who would chance the king's ire?

King.

Huakil nearly fainted as she realized that if Kili was the younger, then Fili was ... "King?"

Ulwin looked lost, he hadn't kept up with her speeding thoughts. "What?"

Fili shook his head. "Dain is King Under the Mountain." His voice rang with finality.

Huakil wanted to argue the point, but bit her tongue. She shot a look back at Dern, and that damnable dwarf nodded at her again! How was this even possible? These two heirs were supposed to be dead and buried! Joy burst open inside of her and her grin fairly stretched her wrinkles out.

Ulwin pointed at the gift that Kili was lovingly fastening around Tauriel's neck. The mithral links shaped themselves to the smooth, creamy skin, shining like the precious metal that it was. Tears filled the corners of Huakil's eyes as she put her hand over Ulwin's, pushing his inquiry down as she shushed him.

Fili cleared his throat, nodding to his brother. "Kili, murkhith aburuf." He spoke in the dwarves ancient, and secret language. Naming his brother the 'shield that is young' and calling upon him to name his ancestors.

The dark-haired prince drew up straight, no hint of a smile now. To dwarves, nothing was more serious than naming and claiming their pasts, and thus, themselves. "I am Kili, last of Durin's Line. Brother to Fili, first of Durin's Line."

Huakil held her breath, and kept the other poor elder from falling out of his chair as Ulwin finally made the connections.

"I am son of Dis. I am son of Vihili." Here the line diverted from their father, only because their mother's celebrated bloodline took precedence.

"I am sister-son of Thorin II known as Oakenshield, once King Under the Mountain. Sister-son of Frerin, beloved hero. Grandson of Thrain II. Greatgrandson of Thror, High King of Erebor and eldest of Dain I. Son of Nain II, son of Oin, son of Gloin, son of Thorin I." Kili's voice rang with conviction and pride. "Son of Thrain I. Son of Nain I. Son of Durin VI."

A tear tracked down Huakil's cheek, clouding her vision. Ulwin, nudged her with his elbow and she reached over, accepting his spare handkerchief. When she glanced over at him, his own tears were falling unchecked. A sob escaped her, though she was trying to choke it back.

The ancestry continued as they all listened with dignity. "Durin IV, leader in the last great Alliance of Men, Dwarves and Elves. Son of ..."

Huakil nodded, listening to the rise and fall of Kili's voice. Pride filled her. Pride of her line, her kings, her history. Then a glint of light played off the mithral necklace around Tauriel's throat. It was no mere chain. But a lattice-work of stunning beauty and craftmanship. Fit for a queen.

An Elf. Married to the last of Durin's line. Huakil had a sudden moment of doubt. If the two produced children, would they even be dwarves? She shot a look at Fili, who seemed to be beaming with pride as he watched his brother recite their ancestors.

Durin's Line. It was through this bloodline, that the reanimation of Durin the Deathless was to be born. The legends said Durin would come seven times, and this had come to pass six times over. Each with the memories of the previous incarnation. Huakil stifled her sudden nerves as she eyed the red-headed elf. Could Durin return in the generations stemming from this mixed blood?

It had been a horrid blow to all dwarves when word had reached them that Durin's Line had been severed completely. Was it right to keep the news that the line thrived still a secret? Or to let that blood mix with the race of another?

A slight movement, nothing major, caught the dwarrowdam's attention and her gaze moved from the elf to the groom's elder brother.

Fili.

Huakil's nerves settled a bit. Fili was a dwarf in his prime. And the eldest. The Rayadel, which meant the heir of all heirs. Just as Thorin had once been. It would be through his line that the last of Durin's reanimations would eventually be born into Middle Earth.

Yet. With only two true heirs living, could they afford to wed one off to an Elf?

As if reading her mind, Fili's eyes slid over to her. What she saw there, had her swallowing whatever might have tickled her tongue into saying something foolish. Whatever she might have said, died unspoken in her mind. Huakil had no trouble reading Fili's emotions. She had interfered too much already. This wedding was taking place.

"Son of Durin III, bearer of the first of the Seven Rings of the Dwarf Lords. Holder of the Axe and Hammer." Kili intoned with deep honor and pride, listing the accomplishments of the third reanimation of Durin.

Kili's voice continued. Durin's Line wasn't short, after all. Countless generations. His words never stumbled, he never searched his brain for a name out of reach. This list of ancestors stretched all the way back to the First Age.

"Son of Durin the Deathless. Eldest of the Seven Brothers. Created by Aule and Vala. The Longbeard Father. Founder of Khazad-dum."

When Kili ceased speaking, no one dared to interrupt the silence that fell over the room. No one wanted to intrude on the moment or break the mood.

Finally, it was Kili himself who gave his brother a telling look, widening his eyes in an effort to move things along.

Fili nodded.

But before he could call for the wedding vows, Ulwin stood up. The older male dwarf was still in his prime, only 220. He was an elder, but still strong.

Fili waited for the male to say what was on his mind. Curious to the possible reactions.

When Ulwin dropped down to one knee, however, Fili frowned sharply with surprise. He shook his head in denial. "No."

Huakil cleared her throat, hoping she wouldn't start crying. So undignified. "May we ask why?"

Why can we not proclaim you alive? Why are you not at Erebor? Why are you not King Under the Mountain. Why are you here?

So many why's, there wasn't enough time to ask them all.

Fili shook his head again. "Dain is King Under the Mountain. That is all you need to know."

Ulwin didn't look up and Fili sighed while Kili appeared uncertain.

"We made vows not to return." Kili spoke up quietly. "The Line of Durin is effectively dead."

Huakil made a wordless protest at that as Ulwin winced from where he still knelt.

Fili walked over and put his hand on the kneeling elder's shoulder. "We can't change who we are. But prophecy and far sight are involved. Wizards and warriors. War might gain us a throne, and lose us our entire race. Please, brother dwarf. Rise."

Ulwin rose, but obviously with great reluctance. "I see now why this can not be spoken of." He dared to meet Fili's eyes. "Does King Dain know?"

Fili gave a swift denial with a shake of his head.

Huakil sighed. Could this be real? Or were they fools? Yet. Her eyes greedily drank in the presence of he who should be her king. It felt right. And Kili? Marrying an elf? Surely this could not be a mistake. Making up her mind, the dwarrowdam slapped her thigh sharply. "Come. We have a wedding to finish."

Kili started to step forward, but was stopped by Tauriel. He raised his eyebrows at her. Surely she wasn't hesitating?

The she-elf smiled at him. The red-head spoke in Khuzdul, stating that she was going to recite her own ancestry. Pleased, Kili smiled encouragingly. "I do not yet know your language well enough, nor do the names translate. I will have to speak in Elvish."

Fili nodded his approval, as did the rest of the witnessing dwarves. "You are doing well with our language." He waved at her to procede.

Tauriel began speaking, her voice rich and full as she recited her personal history. The language was beautiful, even if Kili was the only one to understand even part of it. The words tripped lyrically from her mouth, sounding almost like music.

Soon though, she finished. Huakil shifted in her seat, a slight frown on her face. "Already finished?" She felt a bit bad for Tauriel. Kili's line had traced directly back to the First Age.

The red-head smiled benignly. "It's as far back as Kili's. Just with far fewer generations."

Huakil's face flushed, she hadn't thought of that. When compared to the nearly immortal, dwarven history would take longer to list!

"Can I marry her now?" The dark-haired groom grinned, taking his bride's hand.

Fili gave a quick laugh, nodding. "Yes, yes you can finally marry her, brother."

Kili tugged on his love's hand, urging her to stand. Tauriel hesitated, not wanting to put him at a height disadvantage. He grinned at her teasingly. "Stand. Please."

The red-headed bride stood, looking down into Kili's meltingly dark gaze. His smile was wide and open as his eyes traced her face. "Heart of my heart, I ask you to ever stand at my side. My eyes see you in the dark, and in the light. My lips taste your name and rejoices. The gems of the deep can not be more precious to me than when your eyes look upon me. I give to you my treasures, my house and my blood for your safekeeping. The strength of my arms are yours, never shall my heart falter. I will ever strive to make sure you never regret your choice."

Tauriel's heart sped up. She'd known that this was the traditional opening vow only because the dwarrowdams had shared it with her earlier. She also knew her answer was not scripted, not like the groom. She was on her own.

Tauriel could sense more than see, the others in the room leaning forward, eager to hear her response.

"I am an Elf. I find treasure and joy in the light, the stars and the forests. You are a Dwarf. Our peoples do not always see eye to eye." Kili grinned at the humor, since they would never see eye to eye unless he was standing on a chair.

Tauriel continued, her gaze warm and loving upon his dear face. "Everything about you is foreign to me. Never would I have thought that someone so different would come to mean so very much. Your laughter sings to my heart. Your smile warms me to the marrow. Your eyes rival the starlight."

Kili's smile faded into one of utter longing as he listened.

"You did not ask me to leave my home for you. But what you may not realize, is that I didn't leave my home. The world changed when we met, when our hearts recognized each other. Wherever you are, that is my home now."

Huakil felt tears at the corners of her eyes as she listened and watched.

"You asked me a question once." The red-head smiled gently.

Kili startled a bit, then gave a hoarse chuckle of acknowledgement. _'Do you think she could have loved me?'_

"I tell you now ...you were not dreaming. And my answer is, and will always remain, yes."

For a long moment, everyone is silent and everyone is happy. Then abruptly, Kili lets out a wordless war cry, a victory shout. Height differences be damned, dwarven strength overcomes all. The dark-haired groom wraps one arm around Tauriel's slender waist and sweeps her completely off her feet.

Startled, the red head feels the heavy braided loops stiking her shoulders and neck as she is suddenly at a forty-five degree angle to the ground. Blinking up wide-eyed into Kili's madly grinning face, her hands on his shoulders to keep from falling.

Only, she isn't falling. His strength held her as if she weighed nothing, even though her body was supported by only one of his arms behind her back. This position should have been awkward, with her so tall, but his burly strength gave grace to the sudden move.

Green eyes met dark ones, and the gaze lingered. Gently, he leaned in to kiss her as her lashes batted closed like butterfly wings.

Dern stumbled, as the door behind him shifted and others tried to push their way inside. He dug in his heels and leaned back against the door, extending his elbow to bang on the door behind him in an underhanded move. "Nothing wrong here. All is good!"

Huakil laughed through her wet eyes and shook her head. All was indeed good.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

**A/N: The lineage of Durin is correct, and if there are mistakes I apologize. The reference to Durin reanimating every several generations, is canon and not mine. The wedding ceremony, throne gift, and vows are mine. Some inspiration was taken from researching morganatic marriages thanks to BORYS68, though I changed a lot (a whole lot) for story purposes and my own whims. The Khuzdul word for 'historians' was accurate, but the meaning was tailored by me for this chapter.**


	25. Dancing

Tauriel collapsed into a chair, out of breath and laughing with no sound because she her lungs were almost empty of air. She waved a hand in front of her reddened face. "Is the room spinning, or my head?"

"Both." An unrepentant Kili leaned in so close to her she could smell the ale on his breath. That should have been a bad thing, but for tonight? There were no bad things.

"Husband." She looked up at him, her gaze all soft and starry.

This time it was Kili who stopped breathing, then he grinned widely and planted a big smacking kiss on her lips. "Wife. One more dance!"

"You said that three dances ago!" She moaned heavily, leaning her head back in mock despair ruined by her smile.

Kili tugged on her arm, drawing her half-way out of her chair despite herself. "I won't step on your toes this time."

"Liar." She sighed, closing her green eyes. That didn't help, her balance still felt off. "I don't know these dances, I keep putting my feet in the wrong places! And I think I may be a bit drunk."

"I'm thinking you just got married." Kili slipped an arm around her waist and managed to half drag, half pull her to her feet. He looked up into her beautiful face. "And I'm thinking that I want to dance with you!"

Tauriel dug in her heels, shaking her head. Heavy braids of her long red-hair slapping against her neck and shoulders. Dwarven style braids. For the Dwarven wedding. "Mmm ...married. Oh, I think the song ended." She shrugged apologetically, not really meaning it. "I think a small break might ..."

Kili frowned for a second, then perked up as heavy boots began stomping out a fast tattoo on the floorboards. The rythmic stomping filled the room. "I love this dance!" He tugged on her again.

Tauriel laughed helplessly, letting herself be tugged out onto the dance floor again. Only to have her foot stepped on immediately, twirling in time to the music while trying not to limp at the same time.

Fili watched all this with deep amusement, but nearly choked on his ale as he saw Kili make a face at his bride, taunting her. He did choke when Tauriel got angry and deliberately stomped on Kili's foot in retaliation.

Beside him, Bofur winced. "He's wearing thick boots, she's in slippers. How did she think that was going to work?"

"She's going to have at least one broken toe by the end of the night." Fili mused.

Bofur stroked his mustache. "Three silver against. Elves are hardier than that."

Fili stuck out his hand and Bofur shook it. "Thank you for your contribution." The blond grinned widely.

"No warning either of them. That'd be cheating." Bofur drank deeply from his own mug.

The dwarven prince grinned and shrugged. "No cheating." He agreed. "That means you can't bribe the musicians into playing only slower tunes."

Bofur frowned and gave a 'who me?' look to the young blond dwarf. "Now laddie, speaking of not warning someone ...can we'un discuss the tampered cake you gave me to eat?"

"Wasn't tampered with." Fili blew off the comment as of no account. But his attention was now diverted. He looked around the room, but couldn't spot Teldu. "I want cake."

"You'n didn't know it wasn't tampered with, fact is you did think it'd been messed with." Bofur pouted, for no one pouts like a less than sober dwarf. He peered out on the dance floor and cheered when Tauriel managed to pull her feet, and skirts, out of the way as Kili performed a rather eratic looking turn before stomping his feet and swinging his arms in a wide arc. "I hate that the lass had to put away your gift before coming out here."

"Shhhh." Fili turned to look back at Bofur, putting his finger over his lips. He didn't need the general world to know that Tauriel had a mithral necklace of all things, or that he'd given it to her as a throne-gift. There was no need to advertise wealth, and attract unwanted attention.

Bofur pointed across the room. "There she is. Lovely lass, that."

Fili spun so quickly the beads in his mustache lightly struck him just above his chin. It took a moment for his vision to focus in. "Cleadeth?"

"Hmmm." Bofur rocked back and forth on his heels.

"You like her?" Fili sounded shocked. "She's a bit young, but if you're interested ..."

"Interested for you laddie. For you." Bofur pointed in the dwarf-maiden's direction.

Fili drew up, his eyes intense. "That's so kind of you."

Bofur nodded solemnly. "It is, it is kind of me."

"A true gentle-dwarf you are." Fili gave a polite nod of his head even as he turned his nose upward.

The toy-maker snickered, then grinned as he pointed at Fili. "You don't want her." He guessed.

Fili turned puppy-eyes on the older dwarf. "If I wanted a way to die of boredom, I'd take her."

"She's lovely beyond passing." The toy-maker commented, trying to weed out Fili's true thoughts on the matter.

The blond frowned. "If I wanted something pretty to put on a shelf and collect dust."

Bofur shook his head sadly. "Not kind, laddie. Not kind."

Fili shrugged and looked over at the younger of Dern's daughters. "She's not lacking for company." He pointed out, seeing more than a few bachelor dwarves surrounding the pretty maid.

"Good competition." The hatted dwarf pointed out helpfully.

Fili frowned, he did like a good competition. "Not wanting the prize." He finally admitted.

Bofur shoved the younger male in the shoulder. "Well then, what do you want?" He asked the leading question and pointed over toward the large cake, more than three quarters gone. Perhaps the older sister was more the blond's preference then.

Fili's eyes brightened. "Cake. Yes. That I want." His mouth watered. "Is that sneaky-assed baker around?"

"Sneaky-assed?" Bofur looked shocked as he repeated the words. "But lad, wouldn't you rather have the baker, and no I'm not commenting on the state of her ass - than the cake?"

Fili stared longingly at the cake, and the victory it represented. "Cake. I want cake." He frowned sharply. "And you shouldn't be looking at her ass."

Bofur shut his eyes in sudden clarity of understanding. "Do you just want to win? Or is there more?"

"I just want a damnable piece of chocolate cake." Fili managed not to whine, barely.

"Well, go get one then." Bofur waved over at the serving area. "Most are dancing right now'n. Way is clear."

Fili shook his head, looking determined. "The way is not clear. It's a trap."

Bofur blinked rapidly several times and then shook his head while laughing. "You've got it bad laddie. Bad. There'll be another wedding here soon enough." He sounded pleased with himself.

"Bite your tongue, toy-maker." Fili's eyes narrowed on his target. "I have no intention of marrying Cleadeth. Now, watch my back. I'm going for cake. I have a great idea!"

Bofur whistled to himself as he watched Fili walk as if aimless, like a dwarf who only 'happened' to be walking near the table where the cake was being served. "Wrong lass, dwarfling. Wrong lass."

Fili whistled as he passed the cake table, his eyes scanning the crowd of guests. It didn't take long to pinpoint his target. With a grin he turned sharply, taking not one but three plates. The dwarrow handing them out gave him a cross look, which Fili blatantly ignored.

"The cake must be really good. That one has been coming back for more all night."

Fili's eyes flinched, but he never lost his smile as he ignored everyone else. He headed right toward his target and smiled, looking like the predator he was.

Teldu blinked her pale-blue eyes at him, standing next to her parents. Dern looked at Fili and then thanked him as the blond dwarf handed him a slice of cake.

"No, thank you." Nurbera smiled prettily, running one hand over an ample hip. "I've had two slices already. I couldn't possibly."

Fili shook his head, smiling with utmost charm. "You're nothing but a rail. You should eat."

Nurbera blushed becomingly, but waved off the offer of cake. So Fili inclined his head toward Teldu and offered her the cake slice. Caught, the apprentice baker accepted without batting an eye. "Thank you, dwarrow."

Fili's eyes narrowed on her use of an extremely generic title rather than his name. Dern shifted his weight, a bit nervous at the byplay between the two younger dwarves. "The wedding is a great success!" He announced.

"Yes it is. Thank you." Fili said, though his eyes never left that of a certain dwarf-maiden. "Have any more of those candied flower petals? I haven't had the chance." His voice was very nearly a purr.

Teldu eyed the blond carefully, but finally nodded slowly.

He had her. She could not pull a stunt in front of her own parents, not to the host. The result of such an insult had often led to huge quarrels and blood shed. Dwarves were not a forgiving race, even among their own kind. Slights were remembered.

Fili watched as Teldu pulled out a small bag and pulled out something which she held in a closed grip. She held her hand out over her father's plate, and he complied by holding it out.

"Looks delicious." The dwarf prince smiled evilly, on the verge of winning the night.

Teldu repeated the process over Fili's slice of cake, and then her own.

"Oh now." Fili's eyes fairly sparkled with glee. "Nurbera, please. Please take one more slice of cake. You can dance it all off, I promise. One more won't hurt you."

Dern's wife couldn't keep from smiling as she accepted the plate. "But what about you, Fili?"

The blond shrugged, still smiling. He held up a fork and took a large piece off of Teldu's plate. "We youngsters don't mind sharing, do we?"

Teldu's lips fairly quivered and she didn't answer. Instead she shook her head.

Fili watched Teldu carefully as Nurbera took a generous bite of her cake. Wasn't she going to stop her mother? The dwarrowdam closed her eyes happily, savoring the taste of the chocolate cake. "Daughter, you have done so well. This is absolutely delicious."

Dimples wilted as Fili's smile faded. Nothing had been wrong with his piece of cake? Oh. He'd overestimated her resolve and cleverness. Damn. How disappointing somehow.

Absently, he the bite on his own fork. Sweetness burst in his mouth, an instant before the heat hit.

Fili's eyes immediately watered and he was having a horrid time not spitting out the food in his mouth. Awkwardly he swallowed, feeling it burn all the way down.

"Everything alright?" Teldu asked with supreme sweetness.

The dwarven prince fought hard to keep his expression even and without reaction. Moisture gathered in the corners of his eyes as fire danced over his tongue and throat.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"That's seven ales in a row, laddie." Bofur watched worriedly as the two males sat in the kitchen.

Fili wiped the sweat from his forehead, grimacing as he stuck out his tongue. "Iwt till thurnth."

"What?" Bofur scratched his head, trying to translate as he mouthed the words. "It still burns?"

The blond nodded and shuddered, holding out his mug pitiously.

Bofur refilled him before heading over to a larger keg and in turn refilling the pitcher. "Eight. At this rate you won't be able to send off your'n own brother."

Fili sighed, draining his mug. "Ater don werk." He hiccuped unhappily.

Chuckling, Bofur walked back to the table as Fili leaned his forehead on the cool wood, moaning. He held up his empty mug in supplication. The toy-maker refilled it quickly. "Water doesn't soothe burns from spicy foods, you're right." The older male grinned. "Milk does better than ale though."

"Ale." Insisted the pride-wounded younger dwarf.

"How did she get you?" Bofur asked, hoping that with nine ales in him, the lad wouldn't take offense at the question.

Bleary eyed, Fili managed to look up.

Bofur smothered a laugh. It wouldn't be good to show how amused he was by the prince's downfall.

Fili's eyes narrowed dangerously, then he grimaced and smacked his lips. "Damn."

It must still burn. Bofur held out the pitcher of ale and Fili nodded as the toy-maker obliged him with a tenth mug. When the blond finished drinking he turned, and nearly slipped out of his chair.

"Milk next." Bofur said dryly.

Fili's stomach rumbled in protest of the thought. He gagged.

Bofur backed away quickly.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Uh oh. Get ready." Kili leered, looking around at the other dwarves slowly maneuvering their way around the newly married couple.

"Ready? For what?" Tauriel blinked, spinning around to see what was going on.

Kili winked at her. "To be carried off. Oh. This isn't an attack, don't hit any of the wedding guests please."

Carried off? Oh. The red-headed bride smiled. This was the end of the wedding for she and Kili. The rest of the guests would continue to dance and drink and celebrate until nearly dawn. But the bride and groom were escorted to the wedding chamber first.

"You go left." Kili whispered from the corner of his mouth, grinning madly.

Left? What did he mean? Tauriel's green eyes widened as two stocky dwarves lunged for Kili. Her beloved shrieked happily and jumped out of the way, feigning one way and then going the other.

"Lass? Aren't you going to run?" Tauriel looked at the expectant faces surrounding her. A wild idea burst into her brain and as much as she wanted to deny it, it looked like she'd misconstrued what was about to happen.

"Am I supposed to run?"

At least four of the dwarves grinned at her. And if she wasn't mistaken, two of them were cousins of Dern although she couldn't currently recall their names.

"Kili told me to go right." She said aloud. Several stepped to bar her way and Tauriel swiftly slipped between the others, going left. Groans and shouts of glee followed her closely.

The she-elf moved through the crowded room, with several humans pointing and laughing at avenues of escape ...or capture. A young dwarrow jumped in her way, his arms wide. He lost his grin as Tauriel hurdled over him, her slipper using his shoulder to push off of as she caught the stair newel and changed directions sharply.

Whistles of approval and wonder followed her as she neared the kitchen. Relieved, she saw Bofur and Fili standing there. Tauriel frowned. Bofur was standing, Fili looked like he was propped up against the wall.

"Is he alright?" She asked Bofur, sliding to a halt in front of the duo.

"Aye lassie!" Bofur made a wild gesture for her to turn to the side quickly.

Tauriel slid to the right, just as two heavy males, one human and one dwarf slammed into the wall. Well, into Fili, who was leaning against the wall. All three fell to the ground, moaning.

It took a while, but Tauriel started to see a pattern in this wild chase. They weren't looking to capture the bride and groom so much as herd them. Upstairs. Laughing, she twisted away from reaching hands and leapt over the stair well just as Kili turned the corner running up toward her.

"Go! Go!" The groom's delighted laughter followed her as she rushed into their bed chamber and watched as Kili slammed and barred the door. Several fist pounded heavily on the door, but all in good nature rather than threat.

Breathing slightly harder, Tauriel looked around their chamber. It hadn't looked like this earlier.

The bed was turned down and looked soft and inviting. Candles were lit everywhere and a cheery fire was laid out in the room's fireplace. A bottle of wine with two glasses sat on a small table next to a generous platter of small nibble sized foods.

Tauriel turned around, taking in all the small details and embelishments meant to make the wedding night special. Her heart warmed to think of their new neighbors going to so much trouble for them.

"I used to think that dwarves were cold creatures."

Genuinely surprised, Kili cocked his head to one side as he uncorked the wine bottle. Blinking with weariness, it had been a long day and night. "Why?"

Tauriel yawned heavily as she sat on the side of the bed, watching him pour her a glass. "I never really knew any dwarves before. But the ones I'd seen were always silent, always weighing anything said to them, and never smiling."

Kili grinned. "Well, in public, maybe. We like to keep to ourselves."

The red-headed elf accepted the glass he handed her with pleasure. "The humans here in Brookshire seemed shocked that dwarves they've known their entire lives could even smile. Much less all of this ..." She waved her hand in general.

The dark-haired groom chuckled, shrugging. "It's just our way." He grinned cheekily at her. "Change your mind about us yet?"

Tauriel laughed, sipping the fine wine with pleasure. "About some of you."

"Some of us?" He teased, leaning into her space.

"One of you especially."

Kili's lips captured hers, but she offered no resistance, opening her mouth eagerly for him. Long, long minutes later Kili took her glass of wine from her, draining it. "The bed is still too short for you."

Tauriel shrugged, running her hands through his wavy dark hair.

"Up." Kili demanded, then put the wine glasses down, before grasping the edge of the mattress and pulling it off the bed in one pull. On the floor, it might be the same size, but at least the headboard and footboards wouldn't bang her up any.

"Much better." Tauriel sighed.

"I'll get to making that new bed as soon as possible." Kili promised her, his dark eyes lovingly tracing her outline. He reached for her.

"Wait!" Tauriel held up one hand, startling her new husband. "I need to change clothes."

Kili blinked, confused before a leer spread across his face. "I'll help you take off your dress."

Tauriel laughed and moved out of his reach. Kili pouted at her, laughter behind his lips barely held in check. "Chase is over. Come here."

She nearly did, responding to the love and need in his hoarse voice. Instead she backed away. "I have a gift that Mirrenda gave me. I want to put it on for you."

Kili leaned back, and gave her an odd look. "Humans wear clothing on their wedding nights? Aren't we supposed to be taking off clothes, not adding to our layers?"

Tauriel laughed at his expression of concern. "It's to entice you."

The dark-eyes of her groom lit up. "Oh, I'm enticed. I'm enticed already." He stepped toward her, only to stop as she held up one hand and shook her head. "Tauriel?" It was a plea. "Love?"

"You'll like this gift." Tauriel promised, heading toward the attached sitting room. As she closed the door she could hear mumbling under his breath about stupid human customs.

Kili yawned and looked around the room. He blinked his eyes and slapped one side of his face lightly. He was definitely exhausted. The whirlwind of decision, planning, hunting, cleaning, worry, stress, and then the additional avalanche of emotion from the wedding vows ...followed by a lot of eating and drinking ... he just hoped he could perform well tonight. Male, and dwarven, pride depended on it!

Tauriel ran her hands over the lovely creation of lace and silk, the white material slipping smoothly through her fingers as she held it. A smile played over her face as she thought of Kili seeing her in it for the first time.

Careful not to dislodge any of the multitude of dwarven braids and pins of all different sizes, Tauriel pulled off her dress. It took some doing considering her general inebriation. Her balance was good, but just off enough that she had to hold one hand on a chair to steady herself. The undertunic was a problem, being generally tighter. The laces caught on her braids.

Tauriel briefly thought of just yanking off the undertunic, but didn't want to disrupt her wedding hairstyle. These were dwarven braids for her dwarven husband, and she'd sat for two hours with gossiping dwarrowdams to get her hair done up right. Ruining it was NOT an option!

For a second or two she considered ripping up the undertunic with her knife. Only her knife was on the table behind her and the undertunic was covering her face and eyes. Not that she couldn't find it, more like she was too tired to go and get it.

Before she was forced to choose between her hair and her clothing, the tugging worked and the cloth slipped free from her head. It was nothing to pull it off her arms.

The nude red-head held up the white confection of lace and silk, grinning even as she gave a jaw cracking yawn. She eyed the slender column of the gown. Normally not a problem.

Tonight. Braids.

"Damn." Tauriel muttered, wondering how dwarrowdams navigated dressing and undressing with such ungainly sweeping updos. That was just one more question that she'd not thought of to ask when she'd had the chance.

Instead of pulling the gown down over her head, she stepped into it and nearly lost her balance before her hand found that convenient chair again. Shimmying, she wiggled her way into the gown and then awkwardly pushed her arms through the straps and tugging it up inch by inch until it was in place.

Tauriel smiled, running her hands down the creamy white silk and turned to stare at the full length mirror that Kili had insisted that she have. Staring, the she-elf went still.

The gown was see-through. Nearly transparent, why she could make out the color of her nipples through the material. The sheer nature of the silken threads, complimented by peek-a-boo lace meant that there was little left covered.

Tauriel wasn't considered a great beauty, not like the Elven Queens of old. But she'd always considered herself an attractive elf. Yet never had she seen herself thus.

With her hair braided and out of the way, piled in tight, hanging loops, her neck now appeared almost impossibly long and delicate.

Blinking, the bride suddenly smiled. She'd snuck up here earlier and had hidden the throne-gift that Fili had given her. The red head knelt next to a certain floorboard, passing her hands over a clever contraption that Bofur had explained to her. A certain sequence had a the board popping up. From there she extracted the precious mithral necklace.

Tauril had a bit of a time with the clasp, unused to wearing much jewelry. It was a few long minutes before she was able to turn the necklace around on her neck and finally look in the mirror.

Her breath caught. Tonight. She was beautiful. Maybe not a Queen of old, but a beaty nontheless. And a bride. She smiled happily at her reflection. "Kili?" She called out, figuring that she'd made him wait long enough.

The red head slipped into the bedroom, eager to catch his expression when he first saw her like this. She didn't see him.

Frowning, Tauriel stepped around the empty bed-frame, and started laughing.

Her eager groom was laid out on their mattress, on the floor. The only clothing he'd managed to remove was his boots. He was sound asleep. Out.

Tauriel knelt beside him, kissing him along his cheekbone. She could wake him up. "Uhmmm." She moaned, feeling the heat radiating off of him. She snuggled in close, wrapping her arms around her dwarven husband. "Kili. Wake up."

She kissed his chin, loving the feel of his stubbly whiskers rubbing her smooth skin. Snuggling, she reveled in his presence, his heat, his scent.

His arms moved around her and she smiled against his neck. Victory. She nuzzled him as he held her and it took her a moment to realize that he was still asleep.

A moment later, so was she.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Cleadeth sashayed up to him. Fili snorted, holding his napkin to his bloodied nose. Sashaying. Who really did that? He wondered. "Hurt?"

The dwarven prince glanced up at her pretty face. "No. I'm bleeding for no reason."

Cleadeth's smile slipped a bit.

Fili hesitated. She wasn't a bad sort, just too sheltered. A bit shallow. "I'm fine, really. Someone's elbow accidently found my nose when we were sending off my brother and his wife. Thank you for checking on me."

The smile turned back on full force. "I brought you a piece of cake, there's only a few pieces left and Mr. Bofur said you might like one."

"Bofur has a twisted and cruel sense of humor." Mumbled Fili.

"What?" Cleadeth leaned in toward him, giving him a nice glance at a creamy expanse of skin and a hint of cleavage.

Fili admired the view. She wasn't for him, but it was still a nice damned view. "Nothing."

"Here." Cleadeth handed him the cake, but he put it down on the step next to him. She gave him a laughing look. "You can't sleep on the staircase."

Fili didn't feel like moving. He glanced around the area. Dawn would be but a few moments away. A successful party and a great wedding. He grunted happily. Most of the guests had left, only a few were staggering out the door. "Where is Bofur?"

"Under the cake table, passed out by now I think." Giggled Cleadeth.

Fili winced. A giggler.

Luckily Nurbera snagged her daughter as she directed Dern to collect his cousins who were leaning against a table holding the last remaining keg of ale. He eyed the keg, wondering if his legs would make a journey that far.

"Finally got a piece of cake."

Fili looked up. "Teldu." He gave her a sharp look. "Did you kill this piece of cake yet?"

"No." She picked up the plate and dug a fork into it. Those pale-blue eyes looked at him for a long moment. Then she held out the bite of dessert.

"I don't trust you." He said dryly. "My mouth is still burning I think."

"Frosting will help with that." She assured him.

His gaze zeroed in on her, trying to come to a decision if this was another trick.

Teldu wiggled the fork lightly. The scent of rich chocolate teased his nose. Fili shook his head. "I think you burned off all by taste buds."

She laughed. He growled.

Teldu wiggled the spoon again. He put his mouth around it without warning, catching her a bit by surprise.

Fili watched her watch him, her utensil in his mouth. Chocolate frosting coated his abused tongue and sweetness exploded. He closed his eyes and moaned happily. Slowly she pulled the fork from his mouth, as if trying to move out of the way of a dangerous predator.

He opened his eyes and looked at her lazily. "I'm going to win. I always win."

Teldu suddenly felt unsure of herself, losing some of her natural confidence. It lasted but a second. Her shoulders straightened. "I am not a game to be played with."

"I've faced wizards and queens, mountains and streams, dragons and gold, kings and trolls. I've faced orcs and ..."

"Are you actually comparing me to goblins and trolls?" Teldu asked huffily.

Fili smiled at her. "Hadn't gotten to the goblins yet. But with your temper, there's a definite similarity."

Teldu stared at him, gritted her teeth and finding nothing to say, turned her nose up at him and walked away with what little dignity she could muster up.

Fili watched her go, liking the unpracticed swing of her hips. He grinned. Then he realized she'd taken the rest of the chocolate cake slice with her.

"Damn it all!" He whined.


	26. Twelve

Bright morning light through the window woke a certain elf. Tauriel blinked twice, focusing her vision. Elves didn't usually sleep so deeply. Some of the High Elves actually rarely slept at all, or so it was whispered among the Silvan.

Tauriel reached for her husband, but his spot was empty. Warm though. Blinking, she sat up. Something felt ...wrong.

Bright laughter had her turning her head to see Kili standing next to the tray of food bites that had been left for the newly married couple only last night. He'd woken before her?

Kili grinned at her, a gorgeous sight that had her heart speeding up. He'd finally taken off his heavier tunic and fine leathers. Now he was barefoot and shirtless, wearing only trousers of the highest quality leather embossed with threads of precious metals.

Must be a dwarf thing.

Not that she couldn't appreciate the view. Tauriel started to lean forward, and stopped. Something still felt ...odd.

Kili pointed to the side of his head, grinning as he then pointed to her. "You have something there."

Puzzled, Tauriel put her hand to the side of her face and couldn't. There was a decorative lace pillow in the way. She tugged, it didn't budge, somehow it was attached to her now.

Kili moved in next to his new bride, peering at the problem. He smirked and she frowned at him. "You have too many pins in your hair. They got caught."

Pins? Oh. Tauriel's green eyes closed in resignation. "The braids." Recalling how she'd spent two hours yesterday having her long red hair plaited for the occasion.

Her husband tried to be gentle as he disentangled her hair from the captured lace pillow, but a few tugs were inevitable. Tauriel let him pull her free without comment. Instead she leaned forward as he worked and bit him gently on the shoulder.

Kili's movements stopped and his dark eyes turned to her, a grin spreading across his handsome face. "There's food over there." He teased.

"I'd rather have you." She told him the plain truth. Then she frowned as her stomach growled a bit. "Or I'd rather have you for dessert."

Her dark-haired husband's grin widened with delight as he pulled the last few pins from the pillow and pulled it completely away. "Done!" Kili leaned back and looked at her, then his grin turned into outright laughter.

Tauriel put her hands to her hair, groaning as she realized the braids were no longer neat and tidy loops and ropes of hair. But was escaping their confines and sticking out in every direction.

"Go get me something to eat." She snapped, her green eyes flashing at him in irritation. Her fingers went to her head and she started pulling out the rest of the pins holding her hair more or less in place.

Kili didn't move fast enough for her, or he was laughing at her a bit too much. She kicked him lightly and he shifted out of the way, moving over to get up off the mattress still lying on the floor.

Tauriel begin the tedious job of untangling her hair and pulling loose the braids that had taken so long yesterday before the wedding. Wedding. She lost her frown in bemusement. "Husband."

"Wife." Kili acknowledged with a great deal of pride as he poured her a large cup of water. "Here, we're probably both dehydrated. How's your head?"

"Tangled." Tauriel said wryly.

Kili chuckled at that and set her water down next to her on the floor. "No, I meant from drinking last night. Any headache?"

Tauriel twisted her neck and turned her head. "Not really. I do feel well rested."

"Sorry about that." Kili grimaced. "I guess I really messed the wedding night up, falling asleep."

Tauriel gifted him with a tender smile. "I wasn't much better." She admitted. "Your head alright?"

Kili shrugged. "Dwarves are hardy folk."

Tauriel's eyes narrowed on him, it seemed too easy an answer. "Oh?"

The dark-haired dwarf then winked. "And someone, probably Fili, left me something to take in case I needed it." He nodded toward the platter of food. "There's more if you need something."

"Smart dwarf, your brother." Tauriel finally loosened her last braid. It took far less time to undo than it had yesterday to put it all up. She finger combed her hair and stood, stretching and loving the feel of the sun shining on her through the window at her back.

Kili, sensing her movement, turned to offer her something from the platter. Whatever tidbit he'd been holding, fell unheeded to the floor. His mouth dropped open in shock.

Tauriel's eyebrows rose as she watched his reaction.

"What ..." It was more of a croak than a word. "What are you wearing?" There, that was a sentence, though his voice was sounding hoarse all of a sudden.

The she-elf smiled at him. "Mirrenda's wedding gift. Remember? I was putting it on when you fell asleep."

"I should be run through with an dull axe for that crime." Kili wasn't smiling, he was staring at her with greed.

Teasing him, Tauriel's voice softened. "I thought you said that human traditions were stupid and that I didn't need to be adding layers?"

"Why would you listen to me?" Kili teased back, advancing step by step towards her with a feeling of near reverence. His eyes seemed aglow and she could tell his pants were probably now extremely uncomfortable to him.

Stopping in front of his wife, the dark-haired dwarven prince reached out and ran a finger down the small silk strap to the lace bodice, and down the side of the gown past her hip. He growled at the soft silk. "I can see you through this."

Tauriel couldn't help herself, she'd never felt more beautiful in her entire life than she did when reflected in his eyes. A stream of musical Elvish words fell from her lips.

Kili had been learning her language from her, but she was speaking too quickly for him to catch but a few of the words and mentally translate them. Still, the words he caught were pretty good ones. "Warrior bold?"

Tauriel watched as he reached for the strap of her gown and pushed it aside with one gentle finger so that it fell onto her upper arm. Kili groaned at the sight. "It's an ancient saga. And a declaration of love."

"I caught 'warrior bold' and 'love fires after'." Kili admitted, turning to slowly push the other strap down the other creamy shoulder.

"Warrior bold is right. But it's love burning eternal, though your Elvish improves." She studied the rapt look in his face as he touched just the skin on her shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

Kili's eyes turned to look up at her and she froze in place. His dark gaze was burning with surpressed greed, passion, and something akin to violence. "You don't want to know." He whispered.

Gone was her playful love, this was his need for her stripped down to it's most basic core. Tauriel's skin flamed in instant response. "Show me." She whispered back.

Kili's eyes leapt with joy, but still he held back. "I don't think that ..."

Tauriel leaned in toward him. "Are you my War Hammer of Dwarven design and make ...or not?"

Even having invited him, it was still something of a shock when she was grabbed and dropped down onto the matress. She didn't even have time to gasp before his hands were on her. He literally pounced!

Her only chance for her mind to catch up with her was when he had to pause to yank off his trousers, which took almost no time.

Tauriel stared up into her husband's face as he leaned over her on all fours. She didn't even hesitate as she turned her head, offering him a place. He took it, burying his own dark-haired head in the crook of her neck. His beard stubble rubbed her soft skin, but what maybe should have been painful, wasn't.

His hands bunched up her gown and tugged it up over her hips, she bridged up to help him but that only pressed her chest against his. The thin barrier of lace and silk did not keep her already pebbled nipples from rubbing against his chest hair. She gasped again, trying to catch her breath.

Kili reared back and she made a sound of protest, reaching for him only to throw back her head and arch her back. He didn't wait, but slid into her body in one long thrust that pulled noises from the bottom of her lungs. It was only then that she realized that her body was more than ready for him, despite the lack of his usual foreplay.

Normally Kili loved to touch, tease and taste her. Driving her wild before he would put himself forward. Not this time. This time the need was too great. For both of them.

The pace his hips set was nearly brutal, and she loved it, revelled in it. Her legs wrapped around him as he pushed into her hard and deep and so fast she was having trouble catching her breath. Her fingernails found his strong back as her body accepted his body. Need spiralled upward and it wasn't long before his breathing turned harsh and rasping. Tauriel arched into him, sure that she would be bruised after this. She welcomed the thought.

He was too far gone in the throes of passion to even yell, the grunting noises sounded like they were coming from some creature of the wilds. The she-elf's breathing wasn't much better, coming in small gasps as he pounded his full strength into her without heed. Only the need to be buried within her body seemed to register.

Such a pace and an intensity of need could not last for long. With a hoarse shout and an answering wail, they fell apart into each other. Panting, collapsing, they laid there together, still connected and not quite themselves anymore. As if something basic has been taken down to it's most inner core, and then remade.

It was long moments before Kili shifted and Tauriel protested. He mumbled. "I think our heart beats are synchronized right now."

She swatted his sweaty back, obviously not ready to talk just yet.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Bofur didn't say anything as he looked up from his lunch, catching sight of the newly married couple entering the kitchen.

Fili leaned back and grinned. "Breakfast? Or lunch?"

Kili grinned back sheepishly. "Food. Don't care."

Tauriel looked at the two, but felt no embarrassment. "The main room looks like nothing happened. You two have been up and about."

Bofur grinned and shook his head. "Not me. Fili is the one with the hard head. Which he needs." The toy maker shot a glance over at the blond dwarf.

"Nurbera brought a few over, they helped." Fili blew off the comment. It was true that he wasn't especially prone to morning afters, but this morning he'd had a bit of help. "Our uncle had these powders that help take the edge off after having too much. Oin put them together for him. Mam must have put them in with our things when we were leaving Mirkwood."

At the mention of Thorin, both brothers shared a look of sadness. Kili sighed with regret. "If uncle could only have been here ..."

"There would have been no here to be in." Fili interrupted. "And more than likely no wedding between elf and dwarf."

Kili snorted, dark sadness now tinged with a morbid type of humor. "Do you think he'll come back and haunt me for this?"

Fili grinned. "If he does, warn me. Somehow you marrying an elf will no doubt end up being MY fault in the first place."

Tauriel looked back and forth between the two brothers, sensing this was a familial moment steeped with long history of getting into trouble with their patriarch.

Bofur gave himself a small shake, pushing off the morbid moment. "So lad, now that you're married. Twice. With or without Thorin's say-so. Still planning on courting your lass?"

Kili had walked over to the counter and started to put together two plates. Tauriel moved to help him and he waved her off to sit at the table. "Of course."

The she-elf sat across from Fili who pushed a plate of some sort of cold potato dish toward her. She looked around and Bofur handed her some clean utensils.

"We need to talk about things." Bofur reached over and stuck his own fork into Tauriel's dish, making the beautiful red-head blink in surprise. Fili was the next to take a bite and the she-elf realized belatedly that the blond hadn't given her the potato dish, he'd been offering to share.

Tauriel looked at the males around her and realized that this was the life she'd bargained for when she'd chosen Kili to be her love, to hold her heart. Sharing food wasn't normal for her, but she could adjust. Apparently dwarves came in sets. She smiled at the mental image that thought conjured up.

"Something amusing lass?" Bofur asked curiously, looking at the red-head.

"I married a dwarf." Tauriel's smile only grew.

Fili grinned and nodded. "Twice."

"Once." The she-elf shook her head. "One handfasting and one wedding." Tauriel clarified.

Bofur cleared his throat as Kili returned to the table carrying two large plates filled with cold meats, bread and cheese. "We have only a few weeks before fall will set in."

"Longer than that." Tauriel commented, looking out the window.

"We're not in the woodlands here. This'll be the mountains lass, and fall and winter will'n be here before you'un know it." The toy maker pointed out.

The she-elf paused, realizing that she was indeed farther from her home than she'd ever travelled. And she had never before lived outside of her community. "I've always been part of the King's Guard." Tauriel said slowly. "Others were in charge of providing food and staples for our larders. Oh, I hunted of course, but nothing else really."

Fili nodded in understanding. "It's not that bad. We're hardly destitute. But we'll not be wanting to spend much."

"So you don't call attention to yourselves." Tauriel concluded with a nod of her own.

Kili shot her a startled look. "I hadn't thought of that. She's right though."

Fili gave the she-elf a pleased look. "Very true."

The she-elf felt a bit lost. "Why else wouldn't you want to spend much?"

All three male dwarves looked at her as if surprised she didn't already know something so basic. It was Bofur who leaned forward to gently explain. "If we spend it, we don't have it anymore."

Tauriel sat back, feeling like a foreigner all of a sudden.

Kili chewed his food and swallowed before pointing at her. "We two can get to hunting. Bring in a lot of game right now."

Again the she-elf felt lost. "Why hunt more than we need?"

Fili gave her a quick look and then chuckled. "No worries. It's for trading. We keep what we need, we trade the rest for what we can't make or craft for ourselves. Things like salt."

Salt. Tauriel closed her eyes, shocked that she had missed something so basic. The four of them had arrived and taken up residence. But food would need to be gathered for the winter, and meats needed preserving. "I've never had to set up somewhere entirely new before."

"We have." Kili said with an odd note in his voice, and his new bride was suddenly aware that her husband had been something of a nomad, an exile.

Bofur grinned. "Never mind salt for right now. We got enough in wedding gifts to fill a barrel at least. Very generous. Nice bit of flour and sugar too. Tea, we may have to buy or make do."

Kili's eyes lit up. "I forgot about gifts!"

Fili pointed at the pantry. "Jars and jars of preserves. Apple, peach and strawberry."

Tauriel smiled, relaxing a bit. "That'll be nice this winter."

"What else did we get?" Kili asked eagerly.

Bofur pulled out a list he'd been working on earlier. "Linens and cloth. Not enough thread though." He frowned.

"We can trade for that." Fili nodded thoughtfully. "And for the services of a seamstress." He looked up suddenly at Tauriel, "unless you can sew?"

The she-elf shook her head. "Wounds. I can close a wound, that's about it."

"Us'n too, lass. No worries." Bofur smiled evenly at her.

Tauriel leaned back, nibbling on her food with real hunger but in no hurry. She listened as the males compared the wedding gifts they'd received with what they still needed for the upcoming cold seasons. Suddenly she frowned. "Leather?"

Kili chuckled and patted her arm. "That's on me. I can tan leather, you just help me bring in the game."

The she-elf sighed. "I feel like I'm not contributing."

"You will." Fili promised. "I have a plan for the town defenses, and training a reliable guard for the town. Also, guards that will be for hire to escort the trading caravans come spring. I'll need you for all of this."

Pleased, Tauriel nodded. That kind of job was right in line with her skill set. "It sounds like we will be very busy." Something pulled at her consciousness, something small. The she-elf paused without anyone really taking note.

Fili nodded, his mind cataloguing everything they had to get accomplished. "We will be fine for the winter, long as it may be. And then in the spring we can ..."

Kili coughed and shook his head.

Fili stopped and looked at his younger brother, questioning. "What?"

The dark-haired younger dwarf grinned. "Courting." He shot a secretive glance at his new wife.

"You'll still be here." Fili pointed out.

Kili's grin widened and he shrugged with a decidely smug air about him.

The blond dwarf looked over at Tauriel, who wasn't paying attention to them at all. He frowned at the she-elf, but she had a far-away look on her face as if her focus was turned inward.

"Where will you be laddie?"

Kili looked at the two males, and then reached over and picked up Tauriel's hand. It felt surprisingly warm and he wrapped his fingers around her fingers. "I thought about it over and over again. Trying to figure out what I could craft for her, as a courting gift. A proper courting gift."

Tauriel's hand tightened in his grip and he smiled at her, though she wasn't looking in his direction. Kili was about to ask her what was wrong, when Fili interrupted.

"What are you going to make that you won't be here?" The older brother asked pointedly.

Kili sighed and patted Tauriel's hand. "It was meant as a surprise. But basically, what I'm best at is travelling. And what Tauriel has never done is really travel."

Bofur gave a big happy sigh and his eyes gleamed. "Oh! Brilliant laddie! What are you planning to show her?"

"The sea." Kili leaned in, all enthusiasm. "Fish bigger than boats with teeth sharper than needles. Big waves crashing in on the shore. The moon hanging so big over the ocean you'd think it would have to fall from sheer weight."

Fili grinned hugely. "Good trading down that way, could bring up some really great supplies that aren't well known in these parts. Now that we have capital of our own to invest."

"Thought of that!" Kili's grin matched his brother's. "They have these things down near the sea, a gem that's not a gem. Called a pearl. Hard to come by this far north. I want some for Tauriel. And some to trade, of course."

Bofur shook his head wistfully. "I wasn't with you all when Thorin took you two so far south. Missed all this. I think I'm jealous of your new wife, laddie!"

All eyes turned to Tauriel, who had the most peculiar and soft smile on her lips. But she wasn't really looking at them.

"Tauriel?" Kili called gently, tightening his hand upon hers. "Did you hear?"

"Pearls." Tauriel murmured, then turned her jewel bright green eyes upon him. "But that journey might have to wait for another time." She sounded softly apologetic, and yet not sorry at all.

"Wait? Why?" Kili sat up, mildly alarmed at the thought of waiting. And at the thought of his carefully planned courtship going awry. "You don't like the idea?"

He sounded so hurt. Tauriel's eyes melted as she gave him a singularly loving look that left Bofur and Fili looking away from the two. "I love the idea. I love you for wanting to give it to me. But, plans will have to change a bit."

"Why?" Kili asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Because I was wrong earlier. I have married you. Twice." She smiled at him so tenderly that his breath caught.

Even so, he didn't get it. Bofur and Fili looked at each other, shrugging. They didn't get it either.

"Not twice, you said it yourself." Kili frowned slightly, trying to puzzle out what she was trying to tell him. "One marriage and one handfasting."

"Exactly." She gave him a look full of encouragement, as if he should somehow glean the answer from thin air.

Kili looked at his brother for help, but Fili was lost too. The blonde put up his hands in front of his chest, a sign of surrender.

Tauriel sighed, still looking nowhere but at her husband. "Handfasting ..."

Kili gave a slow shake of his head.

Bofur looked on helplessly. "Is for ten years. And I don't think either of you is planning to walk away."

"Or?" Tauriel asked leadingly. "Ten years or ...?"

Fili's jaw dropped as his eyes rounded. His face heated up to an interesting shade of red that would rival a beet.

"Fili?" Kili sounded alarmed, standing up as if ready to do something if he only knew what to do.

"You're pregnant?" Fili choked out the word in awe and what sounded like fear.

Suddenly Kili's head spun and he felt dizzy. Elven handfasting. It lasted for ten years or until someone walked away, or they got pregnant. Then it turned into a real marriage. He sat back down again, hard.

Bofur looked like a fish out of water, his mouth kept opening and closing. As if he were trying to say something, but the words just wouldn't come.

Kili sputtered, trying to regain his inner balance. "When? When were you going to tell me? I was ...we were dancing last night! I was ...they chased you! They chased you around and you're pregnant!"

"You were stomping on her toes." Fili pointed out less than helpfully.

Kili's face dropped all color as he went pale. "I ...upstairs ...I ...too rough ...oh maker ...oh ...oh."

Bofur reached over and pushed Kili's head down onto the table. "Breathe lad, breathe." But the moment Bofur lifted his hand, Kili's dark head popped right back up.

Fili swallowed hard, very uncomforatable as he shifted in his seat. He shot Tauriel a quick look, but couldn't manage to meet her amused gaze. "You should have told us sooner. We dwarves, we take these things very seriously."

"Elves too." She murmured gently.

"We would protect ye, lass." Bofur said weakly. "That dancing and chasing and ...no stress. Important to be no stress."

Tauriel laughed gently. "Have no concerns on the matter, I wasn't with child last night."

Shocked, Kili's eyes rounded and he was pretty sure he was no longer breathing. Fili and Bofur's eyes were wide as platters. "Huh?" Was the must intelligable response given.

"I just now ...here and now." She ended, sparing them the details.

"You just NOW realized?" Kili sounded shocked.

Tauriel shook her head. "Elves, we know. Understand?"

They didn't understand.

The she-elf sighed and tried to be gentle at the same time as she also knew she needed to be more blunt. "We are aware of ourselves. When we conceive ..." Three faces went red. "We know immediately. We feel the spark of life and recognize the change within us."

Silence. Staring. More silence.

Bofur shifted in his chair. Fili stared at Kili. And poor Kili stared at his wife.

"It's not the same for dwarves?" She guessed belatedly.

Three male heads shook back and forth, each looking utterly stunned.

Then Kili drew in a shocked breath and pointed upstairs, vaguely toward their shared room, and then at himself, and then at her. "Just now? Just then ...and you just now ...right here. While we were sitting here? Talking? You ...me ...when we did that upstairs, and then came down here ...and it just ...NOW?"

Bofur pushed Kili's head down onto the table again when it looked like the poor dwarf was about to pass out.

Fili smiled weakly, feeling less than steady himself. Then he straightened up quickly. "Can you tell the gender?"

Kili moaned, his head rising on that question.

Tauriel laughed and shook her head. "No. Not that far along yet."

"But you'll know?" Bofur asked, his voice sounding raspy and a bit unsure.

"Eventually." Tauriel continued. "And in twelve months, we'll have a new member of this family."

"Twelve months?" Kili stood up, trying to get a handle on things, he started pacing. "Don't you mean ten months?"

Tauriel paused. "Your dwarrowdams don't carry for twelve months?"

"Ten." Bofur sounded as weak as he currently felt.

"Let's split the difference at eleven." Fili joked, but no one laughed. He sighed, running a nervous hand over his mustache and mouth. "Well now."

"Aren't you pleased?" Tauriel asked, suddenly feeling a bit unsure.

Kili looked at her, he took a deep breath and then another. "I'm going to be a father." He said with true wonder.

Tauriel's smile was as if the sun came out from behind the clouds.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

She'd thought they'd taken the news well. It wasn't until three days later, when Fili had stopped what he was working on to 'join' her as she headed into town that she realized something important.

Tauriel stopped and stared down at Fili. "You don't have to put down your work."

"Need a break." He commented dryly.

The red-head's eyes narrowed. "I haven't been anywhere outside the house in three days without either you, Bofur or Kili with me." She pointed out.

"Coincidence." Fili shrugged, looking guilty.

Tauriel sighed, looking aggrieved. "I'm pregnant, not injured."

"Shhh!" Fili looked around a bit desperately, hoping no one had been close enough to hear her words.

The she-elf shook her head, irritated. "So I can go no where on my own? Like a child?"

Fili shrugged and looked away. He did not answer, which was telling in and of itself.

"Is this how you treat dwarrowdams?" The red-head asked, giving a long-suffering sigh.

Fili pursed his lips and shook his head. "No. We don't let them go outside the house in this condition. Kili said you probably wouldn't agree to that."

Tauriel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He would be right." She sighed. "It's going to be a long twelve months."

Fili grinned cheekily at her, moving quickly to keep up with her longer stride. "It could only be ten or eleven months. We don't know yet."


	27. Battle Songs

"I should not have told you." Tauriel sighed rather indulgently, her long elegant fingers sifting through her husbands dark hair. Kili's head was resting on her chest, facing down her body. His large and calloused hand spread gently and possesively on the flat slope of her stomach.

Gutteral sounds in a softened tone of voice teased her, his hot breath tantalizing upon her sensitive skin. Tauriel caught a few words of Khuzdul that she knew, but most of what he was saying was not familiar.

The red head let the texture of her husband's hair glide through her fingers, enjoying the simple touch. "Kili." She called to him softly.

The dark-eyed dwarf did not answer her, finishing the little 'chat' he was having with his unborn child first. Finally though, he leaned in and pressed a seriously sweet kiss to her belly, making Tauriel catch her breath.

"What do you speak to our child about?" The she-elf asked almost breathlessly, her stomach muscles quivering a bit.

Kili finally turned his head to look up at her face, then scooted up in their shared bed to lean in and give her a sweet kiss of her own. "Battle songs."

Startled, green eyes opened a bit wider as she stared at him. "What?" Not what she'd been expecting.

"I'm teaching my son of Dwarven history and the glory of the Longbeards." Kili sounded a bit smug, his lips tilted up in cheeky amusement. "Before you get a chance to teach him grace and manners."

Unable to come up with a response, Tauriel simply stared at him, and then gave a wry chuckle. "Grace and manners?"

"Legolas." Kili's mouth twisted a bit, as if catching the scent of something off.

Stunned, Tauriel gave him a slack jawed look. "What?"

Her dark-eyed love leaned in and touched his forehead to hers before pulling back. "My son will not be like that. Dwarven ways are better."

Green eyes narrowed on him darkly. "Oh?"

Kili grinned widely at her and winked. "You basically said so yourself, when you chose me over staying in the Mirkwood. You know, with elves." And Legolas, the last bit hung in the air between them although unspoken.

"That's absurd!" She stammered.

"That you chose me?" His look was happily smug.

"I felt sorry for you, since no one else would have you." Tauriel crossed her eyes at him, drawing a deep rumbling laugh from her husband.

Kili snuggled up next to his wife, sliding his arms around her. "And you have to go and say a thing like that after I built this nice big bed especially for you."

"You know, it might be a daughter." Tauriel reveled in his warmth. "It is a very nice bed though."

"It is." He kissed her collarbone with a loud smack. "And I'd adore a daughter."

Laughing, she trailed her fingers over his strong bicep as he held her.

Almost immediately Kili gave a huge jaw-cracking yawn and the she-elf stilled. "Long day he murmured."

Tauriel's mouth tightened, an instant before her grip found the back of his loose hair.

"Ow!" Kili winced as his head was pulled up unceremoniously.

The red-head eyed her husband. "Two weeks. I've been pregnant for two weeks. Is this what the entire year is going to be like?"

His glance slid guiltily away from hers. She hissed in annoyance. "I'm tired." Protested the dark-haired dwarf. "Do you want a list of all I've done since day break?"

"No." Tauriel snapped. "But every night for two weeks you come to bed having worked yourself into exhaustion and ...well, let me give you a list of what I've done. Nothing."

"That's not true!" Kili's protest grew in volume. "You've been busy."

"With nothing!" The red-head's eyes were flashing with ill temper. "Errands. Nothing heavy, nothing strenuous, nothing, nothing, nothing!"

Kili's eyes narrowed on hers, his temper rising as well. "You're carrying a baby! My baby!"

The pretty she-elf grimaced. "I really shouldn't have told you." She sighed. "And now you won't touch me."

Dark eyes closed with distress and a shudder ran through his body. "I ...well, I don't want to ..."

"Liar." Her hand moved down his body and unceremoniously grabbed a part of his anatomy that did indeed seem eager for her. And with her touch, grew even more eager. She smiled grimly as his head arched back and his eyes nearly rolled. "Say that again with a straight face."

Kili swallowed and shook his head. "I was trying to say that I don't want to hurt you, not that I don't want you at all." He winced and shifted his hips slightly, stilling only when she didn't let go or move with him. "Uhm, can I have that back please?"

Her answer was to move her thumb over part of him that even through thin sleeping trousers made him gasp and shudder.

"Since when do you wear clothing to bed except when travelling?" Her grip tightened and Kili whimpered. Clearly he wasn't willing to fight her, and that just sent her temper even higher. "I'm pregnant, not injured nor dying. The baby is healthy and happy."

Kili managed to get his hand on hers and disentangle himself from her grip. He let out a rather shaky breath as he studied her face. "Happy?" He questioned.

Tauriel blinked at him.

Kili grimaced and sighed. "You can tell the baby is happy?"

Weighing her words carefully, the red-head tried to explain. "It's not that the child has emotions that I know of, no." She admitted. "It's more like a general feeling of 'alright' or 'not alright'."

Her husband gave her a puzzled look.

Tauriel sighed. "It's just a general sense that nothing's wrong. Sorry it's so vague."

Kili nodded, a look of longing crossing his face. "I wish we had another elf here, one who's been through this. Or my mam."

"Dis?" His wife shook her head. "She'd have me strung up for seducing her baby."

"No, no." Kili laughed, then ducked his head, his hair falling over his eyes. "Okay, she might."

They shared the laughter for a moment, then as they sobered, she gave him a long look as she pushed his hair back behind his ears. "Don't pull away now."

"I'm here." He moved in closer to her, his breath on her face.

Tauriel shook her head. "I'm fine. The baby is fine. We can work and do things, and you can touch me."

Hesitantly Kili rolled his hips toward her, brushing her with an only slightly less excited piece of his male anatomy. There was a reluctance in his eyes, a warning.

She smiled at him. "I'll let you know immediately if I get uncomfortable."

Their lovemaking that night was the gentlest they had yet managed. It was tender and lengthy and left them both weak and shaky. Happy though.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

The heavy pounding noises of the blacksmith was actually something of a comfort. The large male human pounded on the steel he was forging with a fuller, a half-round set hammer in order to form grooves in the metal.

Fili grunted in approval and waited, not interrupting the flow of the striking blows. The rhythm of the hammering reminded him sharply of his Uncle Thorin, and a pang of sorrow hit him hard.

"Do you for?" The Blacksmith straightened, his eyes cautious on the young blond dwarf once he finished the work he was doing.

Fili explained the set of woodworking tools he wanted and the blacksmith nodded, then grimaced. "Works back up." Apparently he was a man of few words.

"Damn." The blond dwarf nodded, looking around. "No apprentice?"

The blacksmith grimaced. "Ran off South." No further explanation followed. Definitely a man of few words.

Fili glanced around the area and shrugged. "What if I do the labor?"

The large male turned back to the dwarf with a surprised look, his eyes carefully gauging Fili's musculature. "You trained?"

"Not full, not official." Not an actual apprentice is what he meant. "Coppernose the Elder." He gave his assumed name.

"I heard." The smith eyed him once more. Then he pointed at some metal. "Nails. Three sizes, round and square. Five each."

Fili grimaced, knowing he was out of practice. Nails. So easy to make, right? Wrong. Usually apprentices didn't even try these until almost a year along. Why? Hammer control. Bigger items were easier to strike, while the smaller ones took finesse. And even harder to make five of each kind look uniform and matching. Crud.

Still and all, for the use of the blacksmith forges and materials he would expect to be tested.

Fili pulled off his fur and leather coat and got to work.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

A month later Tauriel was feeling less than indulgent as she slapped at Kili's shoulders. Her husband reeked of smoke from tanning hides and the odor was enough to turn her stomach over. Thrice.

Swallowing hard, she pushed him away as Kili spoke a few words of Khuzdul to their unborn child. "Stop with the warrior battle songs."

Kili eyed her complexion and sighed. "Bad morning?" He guessed.

"Katakhiger." She mumbled to him with an almost apologetic look. It was a Khuzdul word. It meant he stank. Strongly.

In the past week or so strong smells were catching her out, and making her stomach go into turmoil. Nausea was almost an unknown sensation for the young she-elf. In all her 600 years she'd only felt this bad after eating the wrong mushrooms, and that was before she'd turned a single century old.

Nurbera and the other dwarrowdams assured her that this wasn't unusual. And the kind words of comfort were nice from the others who had been through this themselves. But it was still unsettling to the usually very hale elf.

Kili brought his long hair forward, sniffing. "Smoke. Sorry." He winced, moving over to the other side of the room. He'd spent most of the morning working on the leathers he was tanning for trade goods.

"No." Tauriel gave him a soft frown. "You've been working hard and I ...it's not fair."

"Nurbera assured us it would ease up." Kili told her, hope clear in his voice. He put down the small mallet he was using to put together the pieces of the dresser he'd taken apart and revarnished.

Tauriel sniffed and looked at him fondly, making him grin as the two stood in the room they were turning into a grand nursery.

"Do those spinach twisty things still help?" Her dark-eyed husband asked quietly.

The red-head's eyes lit up eagerly and he grinned. Then she sighed. "I ate the last one this morning."

Kili tossed the mallet in the air, watching it turn in the air before catching it with great aplomb. "I will be back soon!" He pointed at the large pile of fabrics she'd been sorting though. "You choose the ones you like."

Tauriel sighed, holding up the soft light-weight wools in natural colors. There were even some cotton and linen in here. "Where did Bofur find all of these?"

Kili laughed and shrugged. "Who knows? He's not saying." He teased.

The she-elf dropped the pretty bluish-green wool as she caught her breath.

"I jest!" Her husband grinned at her. "He traded a cow for the chest and the fabrics, came with threads and needles too."

"A cow?" Tauriel stared at him, then shook her head. "We don't have a cow."

Kili scratched his chin as he pretended to think that over. "Well, we don't ...now." Then as he saw her cheeks redden with irritation, he shrugged. "He traded one of the horses for the cow and a few chickens."

"We have chickens now, or did he trade them away?" The red-head asked a bit peevishly.

"Bofur's out back building a coop, so I'd guess we still have the chickens." The dwarven prince admitted. "I think he likes the idea of fresh eggs again."

So did Tauriel, her green eyes widened at the thought. Then she shook her head. "We could have used a cow for milk."

"Nah." Kili grinned at his pretty wife. "He claims that goat milk is much better and the animal easier to care for. He's waiting for just the right trade. Don't worry about it, Bofur's the best at trading."

"As long as he doesn't trade away the chair I'm sitting in ...while I'm using it." She muttered darkly.

The dark-eyed dwarf gave her a sympathetic look. "Bofur apologized for trading the book you were reading, he honestly thought you were done with it. Hamnar had a lot of books."

"Books are for reading, not trading." The she-elf sighed, picking up a particularly lovely forest green cotton.

Kili shrugged helplessly. "To dwarves, most everything is for trading. But we all learned a valuable lesson, don't trade the books without checking with you first. Besides, you like having the oil for the lamps ...which is what we got in that trade."

Tauriel shrugged, still miffed.

Kili moved closer to kiss her, then stopped as her nose wrinkled and she sent him a glare. "Right. Bath."

"Spinach twists. Then bath." She corrected his priorities

"What kind of dwarf baby likes spinach?" Kili grumbled on his way out the door. "When I get done bathing I'm singing THREE battle songs to him!"

"Could be a girl." Tauriel didn't appear distressed as she rubbed a beige naturally colored linen fabric against her cheek.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"This is your fault!"

Fili wiped the sweat off his forehead and bare chest, blond hair curling along his pectorals. The distinctly female and distinctly irate voice had him grabbing for the shirt he'd been changing into. "What are you doing back here?"

The 'back here' in question being behind the smithy where he'd been about to wash up before heading home for a quick lunch. The clean shirt clung to him in wet and sticky patches as he'd not had a chance to rinse off from the rain barrel kept there for this purpose, and he was sweaty from a long morning of good work.

Fili glanced quickly over at the human blacksmith, who took one look at the angry Teldu and turned his eyes to the sky. It had spread quickly through Brookshire that the apprentice baker was, in fact, female. The amazement had faded since Kili and Tauriel's wedding over a month ago, but now people did treat her differently.

"You went to my da, didn't you?" Teldu's pale-blue eyes were fairly dancing with angry light, her face red and showing a high temper.

"Whoa!" Fili protested in confusion. "I haven't ...I don't know what you're going on about!"

Teldu drew back in a huff. "Whoa? I'm not a horse you brainless wonder."

The blond dwarf sighed, clenching a fist uselessly. "I didn't mean it like that."

Uldane, the human blacksmith, whistled and Fili looked up sharply. He spotted Dern striding purposefully over toward them. Inwardly he groaned.

It didn't look good for Fili to be talking to the unmarried Teldu without getting permission from her father first, especially since the older dwarf knew of the blond's ultimate intentions. Even if Teldu herself seemed quite clueless.

"I'm over here." Fili pointed at his booted feet, clearly planted behind the smithy and not over near the bakery.

Dern made a frustrated sound, but nodded resolutely at the younger male dwarf. "I have eyes."

Teldu made an equally frustrated sound. "How can I earn my mastery in baking if I'm not allowed to bake?"

The dwarvish father winced and sighed. "The family is stretched right now, daughter. No one can watch the bakery while you work. Perhaps next week."

"You mean, watch me. Not the bakery." Teldu frowned sharply. "I don't need watching over. I'm of age!"

"Unmarried." Fili frowned, finding it his unfortunate task to agree with her father.

Dern nodded. It had been one thing to have his daughter apprentice as a baker under his own brother, Dorn. But when that ill-lucked dwarf had gotten killed by orcish raiders, things had changed. But he'd already explained all of this, at length, to his elder daughter. Instead he turned to Fili. "You taking up a job over here? I thought you agreed to work with the guards?"

"No." Fili shook his head, his blond braids catching the light of the smithy forges and gleaming almost gold. "The blacksmith is backed up with repairs to farming tools right now. I'm working on some simple blades for the guards and Uldane is kind enough to allow me use of his former apprentice's tools."

"Simple blades." Uldane snorted in wonder. "Coppernose here knows his weapons. Town pays for the materials, he does the work and I get an extra hand now and then. Fair deal."

Dern snorted. "What do you get out of it, Fili?"

The blond shrugged, and although the males were patently ignoring the lone female, he was aware of her glaring at him. "The guards get weapons to train with and use, and I get a fighting force for the town. And a decent enough wage."

"And the town loses a bakery." Snarled Teldu, her arms crossed defensively.

Dern sighed. Two of his cousins had left the area to seek work in the newly reclaimed Erebor, being decent craftsmen. But Dern was a merchant, and he had business here. He didn't have a craft to work on or offer. So he stayed, as did Brodr, his one remaining cousin. "We're a trade town. Traders and merchants come through. Strangers. Can't have an unmarried lass unprotected in town!"

Teldu's eyes nearly crossed with anger as she turned to Fili. "You put him up to this, didn't you? Kissing me by the wedding bell!"

The blond dwarf shrugged and shook his head. "I didn't say anything to your da." He looked to Dern for support, and got a short head nod. "See?"

"Fili! There you are." Kili walked through the smithy, then caught sight of Teldu and his grin widened. "Actually, it's you I'm needing lass. Spinach twisty thingies. Need a lot."

"Bakery is closed." Snapped Teldu.

Kili's eyes widened in alarm. "What? Why? Tauriel loves those things."

Dern sighed. "Don't have anyone to watch and guard. It's busy right now, trying to get merchandise through before winter sets in for the season."

Kili turned pleading eyes on Fili, jerking his head toward Dern in a non-verbal communication that clearly meant 'fix this'.

Fili sighed. "My brother is married right and tight and can watch over the bakery for the day."

Dern seemed surprised, he knew how hard the brothers had been working lately. "For a few spinach twists? They're not that good."

"Says you." Sniped Teldu, clearly affronted. "The elf loves them. So do a lot of the humans. But I'm not opening up the bakery for only one customer. I need to work on my skills so I can gain my mastery in the field!"

The older dwarrow sighed and rolled his stiff shoulders. "Surely there are some other rolls or breads already made?"

Kili shook his head almost wildly, taking Dern by surprise. He looked over at Fili who gave a quick look of disgust. Finally, and quite grudgingly, the blond gave a simple hand movement.

Dwarves often used and accompanying sign language with Khuzdul. It was part of their races highly secret syntax and was a full part of that language all on its own. This particular sign meant 'expecting'.

"Oh!" Dern's eyes went wide with both shock and pleasure. He sent Kili a look of sympathy and congratulations. "Seems to be wanting spinach huh?"

"Soft butter rolls with spinach, garlic and cheese." Teldu mumbled, having caught the hand gesture as well, which managed to cool her temper somewhat. "I'll make you a batch."

Kili's tension melted away and he grinned, turning to follow the young apprenctice baker back to her establishment.

"My apologies." Dern sighed, turning to look Fili up and down. "I'm not sure how you got dragged into that."

The blond nodded, his thoughts moving forward though. He glanced over at Uldane who had pulled out his own lunch, thick meat sandwiches and cool well water. "Dern? There's no dwarf available to work in the bakery?"

"No." The older dwarrow said quietly. "Everyone's busy this time of year."

"Does it have to be a dwarf?"

"Huh?" Dern looked puzzled at this question. Of course it had to be a dwarf. Who else was there? His eyes widened. "Men?"

"Uldane?" Fili asked quietly. "Didn't I hear that Maren was looking for work?"

The blacksmith stopped mid-chew, then continued as his own mind raced. He nodded, and then after a hasty swallow, he spoke. "Broke his leg something bad, working with the pack animals. Will be at least six months to get back to where he was. And him with a widowed daughter and two grandchildren to raise."

Fili nodded and shot a speculative look over at Dern, who was shaking his head negatively. "He doesn't have to be a warrior. All he has to do is keep an open eye, man the shop while Teldu is baking in the back. Raise an alarm if needed. You could mount a large bell behind the counter."

Dern stilled and managed to think about it a moment. "I know Maren, he's not a bad sort. But ...a human?"

Fili shrugged. "Uldane is right across the way here if trouble arises, and I'm here a lot right now."

The blacksmith nodded quietly. "I've known the lass my whole life, even if I didn't exactly know she was ...er, is ...a lass."

"Meran would probably accept a wage supplimented by goods not sold that day, what with mouths to feed." Fili offered.

Dern drew in a deep breath, and blew it out slowly, making his cheeks bulge slightly. "Let me think on it."

Fili nodded, it was more than he'd thought he'd get so soon anyway.

Dern grinned suddenly and shot Fili an amused look. "Are you sure you're not just trying to get on Teldu's good side?"

Fili laughed at that. "Are you sure she has one?"

Both males laughed heartily at that.

A horn blew in a deep rhythm from the town gates. Fili looked up, his interest caught. "New visitors to town." It was a system he'd set up right away, to let the townspeople know when traders and visitors arrived.

A short blast on the horn, followed in quick succession by three more.

Fili frowned now. That signal meant that there were dwarves entering the town. He shot a glance over at the bakery, where his brother and Teldu were occupied.

Dwarves didn't mean anything bad, he reassured himself.

Unless they were dwarves that could recognize either Coppernose the Elder, or the Younger, as being from the Line of Durin. "Dern?"

The older dwarrow nodded. "I'll check them out."

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o


	28. Signals

The large dwarf didn't look pleased in the slightest. Crossed arms and thick muscled forearms were only a part of the daunting sight.

Of course the strange dwarf caught him with his eyes, he was standing in such a way that he had several clear lines of sight. His back to the wall of a building. Not that he was alarmed, more likely he was just used to finding the best tactical postions wherever he happened to be.

Dern looked at him, but no more than he looked at each of the newly arrived dwarves. They all looked fit and well armed.

A finely armored dwarf with a magnificenlty groomed blond beard was speaking with young Deven, the others standing quietly and watching.

Deven caught sight of Dern approaching and relaxed subtly, but it was enough of a cue for the blond dwarf to turn and look. A large grin split his rather stoic face in a way that made it seem that smiles were not his natural expression.

Dern stood silently, letting the dwarf leader approach. Since they were in public, around Men, Khuzdul was not used. "Well met." The blond bowed correctly, if a bit stiff.

"Well met traveller." Dern bowed his own head in acknowledgement. He eyed the well armed troupe with caution. "Not merchants." It wasn't really a guess.

The blond made a silent gesture, meaning roughly 'be at peace', signalling trouble wasn't about to start. He then did something very interesting, he looked to the larger warrior standing with his arms crossed looking intimidating. It seemed that pretty armor be damned, here was the real leader. Recieving a quick nod, the blond continued. "We are passing by on our way South."

South? Dern looked puzzled.

"You have heard King Dain rules Erebor?" The blond continued, then thumped his chest. "We ride to reclaim Moiria next."

Dern stilled, his eyes moving from one well armed fighting dwarf to the next. "A worthy goal."

"We are gathering support." The tone was leading.

Dern nodded, scratching at his own beard. "Our possible adventurers have already left for Erebor, to see our former home and perhaps earn new lives."

The blond pulled a face, but nodded without anger. "I had expected so, to be truthful. But further South we hope to gather more to our cause." He made another handsignal. This one was asking if all was well.

Dern smoothed his hand and made a quick affirmative move of his palm and fingers that to Men looked like a natural movement while speaking. "South might find you some interest." At the end of his words, he added a very simple thumb move against the side of his forefinger, followed by a quick flick of the thumb nail itself. Not a dwarvish word at all.

The blond didn't react, but the tall warrior he seemed deferrential to, did. He blinked twice. Rapidly. That was all. The armored blond nodded and looked around casually. "Perhaps we can replenish some supplies?"

Dern waved his hand toward the main part of town. "Mostly Men here, but a few kind businesses." Meaning dwarven owned.

"Any ...recommendations?" The deep rumble was appropriate coming from such an intimidating looking warrior, his leathers lined with the furs of predators.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Kili was laughing as Fili slid in through the back door of the bakery. Teldu had been smiling as well, but the dwarf-maid lost her mirth when she spied him. The blond didn't have time to tease her though.

"Lock the front door." His voice was low. "Make sure the place looks closed."

Kili slid out of his seat in a second, moving stealthily.

"No." A frustrated sound escaped from Fili even as he pulled a face. "Her. Display windows."

Teldu's pale-blue eyes opened wide, and then she caught her breath as she saw Fili pull out two wicked looking blades and place them on her countertop. "What's wrong?"

Fili shook his head and pointed to the front of the bakery. He hated letting her go out there alone, hated it more than anything else.

"Who are you hiding from?" The dwarf-maid gave him the full stare from her rather spooky looking eyes and Fili grimaced. "Kili, you go."

"I can do this." Teldu protested instantly, moving before either brother could stop her. She walked through to the public front of the store. The front door wasn't a problem, she hadn't unlocked it in the first place. But the display window had curtains on either side, and they were pulled back.

Not all buildings had a window like this. Dorn had taken great pride in it, as their cousin Anur had crafted it special just for the bakery. There was nothing more clever than a dwarf crafter. Teldu reached for the strings that would allow her to operate the curtains, wondering just who these Coppernose brothers really were. Her father knew, but she was more than sure he wasn't willing to share that information.

In the street, she spied a long beard. One that she'd not seen before. Teldu slipped back into the shadow as the curtain slid closed.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Dern watched as the large leader of the dwarven group sent the dwarrows on various errands to resupply. He didn't seem in any hurry. But when Dern looked behind him, as if thinking about going back to his own work, the deep rumble stopped him. "Stay a while. I would speak with you." Then he made that odd hand sign that wasn't a word, mirroring the one that Dern had given earlier.

The Brookshire dwarrow nodded briefly, barely a twitch of his bearded head. Obviously the warrior recognized the sign that Fili had taught him. Dern hoped this was a good thing, and that he wasn't making a mistake.

Finally they were the last two dwarrow standing before the town gates, under the watch of the guards who were acting like they weren't curious about the heavily armored company.

The large warrior with the frightening looking hand weapons decorating his fists sighed and looked Dern over with deep speculation. For his part, the Brookshire dwarrow had to look up to meet the hard-eyed look of the intimidating fighter. He was about to speak, when the group's leader shook his head slightly.

Dern glanced up just as the blond in the pretty armor came up to them, grimacing slightly. "Some of the lads saw a sweet-beard behind a closed shop window. Bakery." It was a question.

The father tensed and bristled. Sweet-beard was a slang term for a dwarf-maid.

The large dwarven leader scoffed and frowned sharply. "We are not here to court. And the shop is no doubt closed to keep such as ourselves from bothering a local treasure."

"Not many maids in Erebor as yet." The blond hesitated.

The warrior shrugged. "And fewer still in Moiria. Do we ride to fight and free our home, or are you looking for a soft lap to lay your head?"

Dern continued to frown, shifting his weight slightly. Nervous. He could only hope that Cleadeth didn't get wind of the visitors in town. That one would want to try her wiles on so many new dwarrows.

"What if some of the lads have a sweet tooth?" The blond wasn't ready to call it quits.

The leader squared his shoulders, glaring down at the armored dwarrow who suddenly looked less sure of himself. "Any lad who has a sweet tooth? I will gladly knock it loose from their jaw for them. No charge."

Dern watched the blond fairly flee after a hasty dismissal. He glanced nervously back up at the large warrior. That one had unreadable dark eyes.

"You have something to share?" The deep voice rumbled with an emotion Dern was unsure of. Hope maybe. Reluctance as well.

The Brookshire dwarrow shrugged. "I will have to find out." He stalled, wondering if the intimidating male would agree to wait.

After a long considering moment, the warrior nodded and Dern made his escape.

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

Teldu boxed up the cooling spinach twists for Kili, still on edge. The two Coppernose brothers seemed tense, and the feeling was catching. "What's wrong?"

"Probably nothing." Fili muttered, pacing slowly in her clean kitchen.

The dwarf-maid pulled a face. "Nothing to share with a mere female?" She guessed with a bitter note in her voice.

"Not true and not fair." Kili offered her a reassuring smile, that would have gone a lot better if his hand wasn't resting on the hilt of his belt knife. "All good dwarves have secrets." He quoted King Thrain I, the hero who had founded the kingdom under the mountain so long ago.

"And secrets can be just as precious an ore." Snapped Teldu, capping his quote with one of her own. Both brothers turned wide eyes on her, a bit stunned that she quoted their own great-grandfather at them. "What?" She asked, uneasy under their heavy regard.

Fili frowned. She didn't know, it was just a quote. He grunted and looked away. Kili gave a small salute to her with one hand and a warm grin. A grin that faded into nothingness by a knock on the back door of the kitchen.

No one said anything until the clear sound of a key in the lock had them relaxing just a bit. Teldu looked over at each brother in turn, her own nerves jittery as she noted that their hands were definitely on their weaponry. Fili had even drawn a blade forth.

Dern called out as he opened the door cautiously, slipping inside. Fili let his knife disappear once more. He smiled at his daughter and made motion for her to follow him. "We're going to leave you two here." He said with a pointed look.

"The sign?"

"One recognition." Dern stated quietly. "Large dwarf, fist weapons, bald head covered with tattoos." He watched the lads carefully. "He'll be coming here."

Fili and Kili both grinned so suddenly it was as if the sun pierced through storm coverage and bathed the land with light.

Dern blew out a nervous breath, nodding. "Good?"

"Better." Fili laughed.

Dern threw a covering cloak over his daughter, escorting her back home and all the while chiding her on THIS being the reason that he didn't want her working in town by herself. The unmarried bachelors of Brookshire knew and respected Dern. Dwarrows passing through? They might push things further in an attempt at wooing an actual dwarf-maid.

Fili and Kili had shared an amused glance at each other as Teldu had turned and stubbornly argued the point with her da even as they left.

Grinning, Fili rocked back on his heels. "Mister Dwalin."

"Could be no other." Kili's own grin answered his brother's delight. He watched as his older brother reached over and grabbed a large green apple from a bowl. "I think those are for tarts."

"Missed lunch." Fili spoke, his mouth full. "Teldu came screeching over, complaining."

Dark-eyes widened appreciatively. "Looking at you for help?"

"Oh, I think it was more to place the blame." Fili's smile turned conniving. "But since I ended up helping after all, it keeps her off-balance."

"Not Cleadeth, then?" The younger sibling teased, already knowing the answer.

Fili made a face and his brother chuckled.

"She's got a mean and sneaky way about her. I quite like it." The blond admitted. "Clever and sure of herself."

Kili nodded and then turned thoughtful. "If she gets to the point as a baker that she wants to be a master, she'll have to test."

The older brother looked up at that statement, missing the point. "I'd escort her with Dern if need be."

"Where?" Kili asked the question quietly.

Suddenly Fili's good mood slipped a bit and he sighed. Where indeed? Iron Hills? Ered Luin? "Erebor is now the closest." He grimaced. None of the choices were tenable actually. All were places where he would not go unrecognized for long. But only one was a place he'd made a vow never to return to.

"A branching of the trail we have yet to come to." Fili said quietly.

Kili nodded, his expression unusually somber. "I like her."

"I as well." Fili frowned. "Didn't expect to, not really." Which was true. She was not as flashy as her sister, with a quieter beauty around her. But her mind was sharper than his blades.

"Don't need Dern's approval, really." Kili pointed out. "You could start courting today if you want."

What his younger brother said was true. A female dwarf held all the power in a courtship. She said yea or nay. Not a family. No dwarrowdam was ever forced into marriage, and could say no at any time.

Fili shook his head. "I ...I need to prove myself. To her. To her father. To me as well."

Looking startled, Kili made a wordless protest.

"I'm not a prince anymore. Not the 'heir of all heirs' that Thorin raised me, us, to be. I don't have an apprenticeship." Fili struggled to find the right words to explain. "I'm a dwarrow of low family name and few prospects."

Kili made a noise of disgust followed by an even ruder and cruder hand gesture that had Fili choking with surpressed laughter. "You're a prince, even without the title. Uncle's training of us puts us able to accomplish the impossible. We're supposed to be dead, remember? Your prospects are without limits!"

Fili grinned widely, shaking his head at the younger dwarrow. No one could cut straight to the heart of the matter like his brother.

A knock on the door had both of them tensing. Despite their assurance that it was Dwalin, both of them went on high alert. Fili's blade made a reappearance.

"Come."

The large warrior with the furred tunic slipped inside the kitchen, looking around cautiously. He saw Kili first and then, with his harsh expression unchanged, his dark eyes slid to Fili.

A wide grin broke over the larger male's usually dour face as the three males moved in as one, wrapping their arms around each other in greetings.


	29. Reunion

Strong arms held them tightly. Fur tickled their noses as they drew in the scents of the outdoors, the forges, horses, sweat, and a blend of spices unique to one particular dwarf. It wasn't perfume, but to the two heirs of Durin, it was priceless.

Fili blinked rapidly, trying to keep moisture from building up in his blue eyes. He clapped the larger dwarrow on the back, signalling that he could let go now. Dwalin didn't, he merely squeezed tighter. Fili chuckled and gratefully let himself be held.

Kili sighed happily, burrowing into the familiar warmth. With a pang he realized that the comfort he'd always taken from Thorin and Dwalin would not always be there for him. Indeed, now that he was an expectant father, this would become HIS job. And while Kili had known that his Uncle Thorin was gone, unable to hold either of his nephews again, the feelings of loss struck him anew.

Dwalin felt Kili's hands tighten into fists on his leathers and turned his head, resting his cheek against the dark-haired prince's head. "Lad?"

"Missing uncle." Kili admitted without shame.

Dwalin grunted in sad acknowledgement, tightening his arms even further around the precious duo. "Been missing the two of you." He said hoarsely. "Erebor is too solemn without you miscreants."

Fili finally pulled back, but not far. His smile looked a little forced. "Mother made us vow ..."

"I know." Dwalin let go of the young blond, only to clap a heavy hand on Fili's shoulder. "I even know why."

Kili pulled away with obvious reluctance, not bothering to even try to smile. "I don't. I know what's been explained. Sure death to us if we stayed. Dain wanting the throne. Civil war. And something vague about a greater danger and it's all ..."

"True." Dwalin interrupted a bit harsher than he'd intended, his craggy face settling into a worried glare.

Kili bit out a harsh word in Khuzdul showing utter contempt for the very idea. "Dain wouldn't have killed us."

Dwalin shook his head slightly and sighed. "You didn't see him in those first few days. Bad as Thorin, though not like Thror. But I agree, Dain wouldn't have you killed now. He's come back to himself quite well. Rules Erebor evenly and decently."

Fili's blue eyes widened with betrayal, taking a step back from his uncle's cousin. "Dwalin?"

The large warrior furrowed his heavy brows. "I don't say he rules better than Thorin would have, or you." He turned and shot Kili with a lingering look. "Maybe better than you would though."

The dark-haired younger prince drew up sharply in protest. "Hey!"

Fili though, was shocked into a rough chuckle. "He's jerking you around little brother."

"I know." Kili sounded not quite so sure. "But why pick on me?"

Dwalin reached out and ruffled Kili's loose hair. "Because your braids have fallen out. Again."

Groaning, the youngest brother rolled his expressive eyes. "Oh like THAT makes any sense."

Fili, his momentary anger having faded, sighed. "So. You say you know the real reason?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. Unfortunately." Dwalin sighed, running a tired hand over his face. "But first, tell me of this place. Are you happy here?"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"You look like you'n could use a nap."

Tauriel didn't even look up as she sat at the table, carefully storing the seeds she'd been drying this past month. "You look like you could do with a nice close shave." She threatened idly, her voice without heat or inflection.

Bofur smiled rather weakly at her. "You've been taking cuttings from the garden all week, surely you've done plenty already?"

"Following the winter, won't it be good to have a lovely garden able to sustain us with beans, chicory, endives, peas, lettuce and tomatoes?" The red-head didn't glance up from her work.

Bofur made a slight face and tilted his head to the side a bit. "Beans'll be good." He admitted. "And I think the lads like tomatoes well enough, especially roasted."

Tauriel finally looked up, a smile playing on her pretty lips. "But not peas?"

Shrugging, the toy maker smiled at her shyly. "Peas are fine, not real fond of chicory though."

"More for me." She teased, even as her green eyes narrowed on the dwarf's face. "Bofur? Is something the matter?"

"No! No indeed! Nothing!" The toy-maker protested strongly. Too strongly.

Tauriel's gaze narrowed on him as he looked about ready to turn tail and run from her. "Bofur?"

o.o.o.o.o

o.o.o.o.o

"Happy?" Fili pretended to taste the word with his mouth, looking up at the bakery's ceiling. "Without friends, family, mountain ..."

"Mother, uncle, cousins ..." Kili ticked off the next three items of importance.

"Without crown or at best ... an EXPLANATION that makes sense ..." Fili fixed his gaze directly onto Dwalin's. "We're happy enough I suppose."

"Yer safe." Dwalin pointed out.

Fili made a rude noise, while Kili made a far ruder hand gesture. "We were injuried and bullied into making vows never to return to Erebor. Weakened and bustled off with poor thoughts on wizards and far-seers and vague prophesy."

"Safe?" Kili scoffed. "If you'd wanted us safe you wouldn't have let Thorin bring us along to face off against a dragon! Or armies of overwhelming odds. Safe? When did dwarven blood ever sing for SAFE?"

"I'll admit. I've heard a fair few dwarven songs since leaving the Mirkwood. None have been big on safety."

All three male dwarrow turned stunned eyes to the front of the bakery. The red-haired she-elf leaned with false casualness against the doorway. Her dagger blade deftly removing garden soil from beneath her neat fingernails.

Dwalin bristled, but then relaxed as Fili flashed a smile of true warmth. While interestingly, Kili's face went completely red.

"I heard there are strange visitors in the town." Tauriel commented dryly, tilting her head in greeting to Dwalin.

The large dwarven warrior didn't know the lass well at all. Mostly what he knew was from the prison cells of Thranduil. Of course he'd heard Bofur's and Oin's tale of her saving Kili's life. And he himself had seen her protecting the king and his heirs at the last great battle. For that, he kept his tongue still and returned her nod of greeting.

"I did not know you had remained with the heirs." The warrior commented.

"Then you have not been speaking with mother." Fili interjected with some rather dry humor.

Kili was still staring at his wife, however. "Dwarves are all over this town! What if you'd been seen sneaking in here?"

Tauriel's eyebrows rose and her knife blade caught a gleam of reflected light. "Yes. Dwarves are everywhere." Her nose crinkled a bit. "Strangers. And do you really think I'd be seen if I didn't want to be?"

Kili sighed unhappily. "I don't need you to protect me! It's my turn to protect you!"

Dwalin's mouth tightened. What did the lad mean by that? Why did the elf need protecting? Instead of asking, he answered Fili's comment. "I have not spoken with the Lady Dis. King Dain keeps her busy, and safe."

Hearing the strange inflection in the tone, both brothers stiffened and forgot all other concerns. "Mam?"

Dwalin sighed and shrugged. "Dain has taken it in his head that she needs to be protected at all costs. Dis' temper is close to the surface, as she is followed everywhere by guards. Her every whim is seen to, and she lacks for no comfort. He treats her like a royal princess of old."

Fili barked out a quick laugh, while Kili's eyes bulged. The two looked at each other and then bit back groans. "Mam would hate that!"

Dwalin nodded with a quick twitch of a smile. "She does. Bored to tears, your Mam. But she can't speak privately. Guards are everywhere around her."

Sobering, Fili pursed his lips. "Do you think Dain suspects? About us?"

Dwalin shook his head, looking down at his boots. "No. There's a piece of this puzzle you lads might not have heard." He sighed and looked back up at them. "Sauron has returned."

Tauriel gasped, her green eyes huge with shock. Fili stared, his mouth agape. Kili sputtered, having swallowed wrongly, trying to catch his breath.

After a moment, silence filled the bakery. All three stared at Dwalin as if wanting to deny the moment.

Finally, the youngest couldn't take the quiet. "Sauron." Kili whispered the name. "As in the Great Enemy already conquered?"

"No. As in defeated, but not gone. Not like we'd thought." Dwalin pulled up a stool, resting himself as if suddenly wearied.

Fili watched, his eyes steady and careful. "How?"

The large warrior shook his bald head as he shrugged. "No one knows. The elves speak of his corporeal form being scattered after his defeat at Dagorlad. But that he must have been laying low, gathering strength all this time. Now he's back, and Mordor grows stronger every day."

Tauriel paled at the very idea.

Fili shook his head. "Okay. Great Enemy. Bad. But what does this have to do with Erebor? Mam? Us?"

Dwalin cleared his throat roughly and gave the last two heirs of Durin a lingering look of sympathy. "Gandalf had intercepted a communication. He told Thorin about it."

"Uncle told us that there was a letter with Black Speech that put a bounty on his head." Kili's voice sounded weaker than he would have liked.

"Gandalf told him that. As Thorin couldn't read black speech, he accepted the wizard's words at face value." Dwalin pointed out.

Tauriel seemed perturbed. "Are you saying that Mithrandir lied?"

Dwalin grimaced at her. "No, but he didn't disclose everything the letter contained. Not then." He sighed deeply. "My brother Balin and Dain are not on bad terms, but they aren't always on easy ones either. Balin wants to retake Moria next."

"Worthy." Fili nodded with a frown, thinking of the battle stories dwarves had told about Thror's fall. Not Thorin though. His uncle had refused to speak of that time often.

"Dain's against it entirely. Says that Durin's Bane still makes the place reek of his presence. Balin disagrees. That is what I'm doing, drumming up support to take Moria back." Dwalin gave a grim smile. "Without Dain's backing, it's slow going. Decades it'll be before Balin will have a force ready to try."

Kili caught the nuance before his brother. "Balin? Not you?"

"I swore to protect the Line of Durin. That's even more important now than ever before." Dwalin answered cryptically.

Fili's teeth snapped shut. "The Line of Durin is dead. Mam and a sneaky wizard as well as Elvish and Human leaders saw to that."

"They saved your lives." Dwalin sighed, looking very unhappy.

"You yourself said Dain wouldn't kill us now." Kili pointed out, glowering.

"Not Dain, no." Dwalin admitted. "King Dain talked at length with Gandalf before the wizard disappeared again where ever that might be. Dain finally shared with Balin." And by extension, to him. "Yer Mam doesn't even know this."

Fili and Kili shared a look, then turned to stare demandingly at Dwalin. It was a look that was a copy to Thorin.

The large warrior laughed and shook his head. "You two. You forget sometimes, and then you do that! Look just like your uncle at his most prideful."

Fili narrowed his eyes dangerously, but it was Kili's glower that was the mirror for Thorin's look of demand.

Dwalin gave in. "Sauron, though it wasn't known that it was he at the time, gave a bounty on Thorin's head. Gandalf didn't lie on that. But the bounty included the entirety of Durin's direct line."

Tauriel hissed, her knife hand moving until the blade rested protectively before her belly.

Fili's mind was racing, and he held up a hand as he thought through the revelation. Finally he snorted. "So? Mordor wanted us dead. Okay. Because ...we were going off to face a dragon. Smaug. One that could be influenced for evil destruction. Sauron wanted Smaug as an ally and we were trying to kill that same dragon."

"No." Tauriel breathed, her eyes wide and distressed. Kili stepped toward her, stopping when she shook her head and pointed at Dwalin. "That's not it, is it?"

The large warrior nodded solemnly. "The elf-maid is right. The bounty was put on your heads BEFORE plans had been made to re-take Erebor."

"The Lonely Mountain." Tauriel's tone was dark. "With a restored Erebor and Dale, then the Mirkwood becomes less of an easy target for Mordor. Sauron wanted to destroy the wood elves."

Kili stiffened at the thought. He had no love for King Thranduil. But in his short tenure there he'd come to be friendly enough with the healers and a few others. Even if they had half starved him accidentally.

"Erebor, Dale and Thranduil's kingdom together keep Sauron from sweeping through that part of Arda." Dwalin nodded, looking most grim. "Our only solice is that Mordor believes that the Line of Durin was severed. It keeps him from beseiging Erebor already."

Fili rubbed his palms against the leather of his pants. Wanting to hit something. Badly. "We can ..."

Uncharacteristically, Dwalin interrupted the former prince. "It's a secret. But Gandalf learned that Sauron had a prophesy, that as long as the Line of Durin still thrived, Erebor would stand against him and not fall."

Tauriel about gasped. "If he knew you two lived, the Great Enemy would stop at nothing to kill you both. And me."

Dwalin looked up puzzled at her last comment, only to turn away as Fili shook his head, speaking. "The goblin and warg army makes more sense now. But ..."

Kili groaned. "Before he was in the shadows. But Sauron is known to have returned. He can move far more openly now."

"Dain protects the Lady Dis. As far as our king knows, she is the last in the direct line. He takes great caution with her." Dwalin commented, his voice a bit on the dry side. "She hates it, but doesn't know of the prophesy."

"I don't believe in prophesy. Not one bit." Fili snorted, crossing his arms.

"Nor I." Dwalin agreed. "But it is not we who matter. Sauron puts stock in the words. And he thinks he's won. With Thorin and you two dead, and Dis too old to bear more children, the Line of Durin has ceased. Balin and I aren't happy, but we agree with Gandalf. You two need to remain dead. Let Sauron think he's taken the day. For now."

"So. Balin looks to march on Moria and we're stuck playing small town living while the greatest threat to all things marches over Middle Earth." Fili's voice dripped with bitterness. "Can't even raise our blades against him."

"Not yet." Dwalin cautioned. "Later, perhaps. A war will eventually come. You can play your part. But in the meantime, we must keep you two a secret. And safe. There are still two heirs of Durin and Sauron must never know."

Kili looked at Tauriel, his face tragic and yet hopeful as well. "Three."

Dwalin looked at the lad, then followed his gaze to the red-head. Suddenly he paled and swayed as his dark eyes went wide with shock.

"They're married." Fili supplied with some relish at the shock he was delivering. "Dwarven and Elvish traditions both satisfied. With a new generation growing already."

"Dwalin?"

The large warrior leaned his entire weight against the countertop behind him, a buzzing in his ears.

"Dwalin?"

The three other occupants of the room moved toward him, stopping when the large warrior finally stood up tall. His dark eyes hardened and he looked between the three circling him. Those eyes settled on the tall and still slender form of a certain elf.

"So. Not an elf-maid any longer?" His voice was a grumble, but not an angry one.

Tauriel shook her head. "Not quite a dwarrowdam though." She smiled a bit. "She-elf still works, even if the word 'maid' no long applies."

Dwalin searched her face for something, then grunted slightly. Tauriel wondered if she was passing muster or not.

"Master Dwalin?" Kili sounded unsure.

The large dwarrow kept his gaze on Tauriel. "I used the Moria campaign as a ruse to search the area for signs and clues about where Durin's heirs might have gone. I did not expect you." He cleared his throat, looking a bit uneasy. "I have sworn to protect the Line of Durin, against anything and everything."

Fili grimaced and Kili grinned. Tauriel gave a brief nod, unsure where this was going.

"It'll take me a while to disengage from Erebor without raising suspicion or wonder. And I will return. A retired old dwarf past his prime. Useless."

Fili was shocked into an outright laugh at that ludicrous thought. Even Tauriel smiled wanly.

Dwalin continued. "Will you allow me this familiarity?" He paused, clearly embarrassed. "I will have to speak in our language."

"Do you want me to leave?" Tauriel asked, uncertain. She didn't want to tell the large dwarrow that she'd been learning some Khuzdul already.

"No." Dwalin chuckled. "You would need to be here for this to work." He hinted.

Unsure of what was being asked, the pregnant she-elf looked to her husband. Kili grinned widely and nodded encouragingly.

Tauriel gave her assent.

Dwalin bent down, then seemed to think better of it. He knelt down before Tauriel, who looked incredibly startled. But then realized, the dwarf wasn't there for her.

The large dwarven warrior starting speaking in Khuzdul. To her unborn child.

Green eyes looked startled as she tried to pick out the few words of the litany that she could recognize. _Gajijal_ meant follower, and she was pretty sure that _adushun_ was 'to serve'. _Dashunal_ sounded similar, but she didn't know that derivation.

When he was done, Dwalin stood and Tauriel was shocked to see the large warrior looking misty eyed. He chuckled at her look. "You're part of us now, lass. You will probably be hearing Khuzdul more than is proper."

"Kili's teaching her." Fili admitted wryly.

Dwalin froze for a second, considered it, then nodded. "Perhaps best. Don't tell Balin though. I think it would seize up his heart."

Tauriel smiled gently. "There were several words I did not recognize. _Adushun_ means to serve, but _dashunal_?"

Dwalin stilled, hearing the secret and ancient language solely of the dwarves fall from the lips of an elf. Ruefully he sighed, mocking himself. "That will take some getting used to." He admitted.

"It means the servant." Kili supplied.

Tauriel nodded. "_Zuhuk? Dumith_?"

Dwalin answered gruffly. "To seal so tight that even air cannot get in or out. _Dumith_ is the blood that is young." His large hand moved over the area of her womb, hovering there, but not touching.

Without thought, the elf reached for his hand and pulled it in so that it was resting directly over the growing child within her.

Dwarf and Elf stared at one another, not speaking, but in perfect accord. He accepting her as a vessel for new life within his race's most beloved bloodline. She accepting of his pledge to protect her child against the greatest evil in Arda itself.

"_Muhud_."

Kili and Fili both stilled, then grinned sloppily pleased.

Dwalin looked startled, at the she-elf calling him a 'blessing' in his own language.

"You should know, however." Tauriel gave him a bigger smile. "I won't be sitting at home knitting."

Dwalin choked back his laughter and nodded.

"And Fili has his pretty eyes cast on a dwarf-maid." She tattled.

The blond drew a breath of protest, then stilled as Dwalin only smiled.

Kili grinned. "And I don't plan on stopping with but one child."

"Planning on keeping an old, useless, retired warrior busy are you?" Dwalin smiled. "Good."


End file.
